Growth and stability are the bywords at Wilmington-based Well Care Home Health.

In December, the health care agency announced the acquisition of Davie County Home Health, an agency serving about 220 adult home care patients that has served Triad-area residents for decades.

That’s just one example of developments at Well Care Home Health, which now has the capacity to serve 43 counties statewide. Also in 2015, Well Care Home Health received the highest possible level in an assessment based on a new rating system and report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Agency milestones

The year 2015 “was an epic year for Well Care,” company CEO Wayne Long said this month.

Well Care accomplished a 5-star rating in the Wilmington market and a 4.5-star rating in the Triangle market.

It received a perfect, 5-star rating from CMS and is one of only two home health agencies in North Carolina with that designation.

“We improved our patient satisfaction scores significantly. We acquired Davie County Home Health Agency, expanding our service area by 23 counties in the Piedmont area, which is a strategic opportunity for us,” Long said. 

In 2016, Well Care “will solidify our position in all markets and continue to build our staff and leadership team to meet and exceed the need of the patients we serve,” Long said.

The acquisition of Davie County Home Health will allow Well Care to provide services in the greater Triad area to include Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Davidson, Yadkin, Randolph and surrounding counties, where over 145,000 patients receive care in their home annually.
 

Expanding footprint

Well Care’s headquarters are in Wilmington. It has three Certificate of Need and licensed offices located in Wilmington, Raleigh and Mocksville.

Well Care also has seven licensed offices located in Elizabethtown, Jacksonville, Whiteville, Burgaw, Goldsboro, Supply and Greenville.

The company currently has more than 750 staff members, Long said.

“The outlook for Well Care is very positive. We are looking to acquire one Certificate of Need annually and to have organic growth in all of our current markets,” he said, referring to the state approval process health providers have to go through to acquire or add facilities.

Long spoke highly of Well Care staff members.

“Well Care has a high expectation of our staff. We continue to strive to attract and retain the best talent in the marketplace,” Long said. “We diligently screen incoming staff and have an extensive education program. We give our staff all the tools they need to succeed.”

Opportunities for home health care are sure to expand in coming years as members of the baby boomer generation age and retire to places with milder climates and other amenities such as North Carolina.

“Expansion is certain. CMS estimates 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65 for the next 25 years,” Long said.

Data indicates 40-50 percent of health care provided by the year 2025 will be done in the home setting.

“The challenges to this paradigm shift are numerous, but Well Care is progressively moving to meet this opportunity as it becomes a reality,” Long said.

Long and his wife, Tanya, founded Well Care & Nursing Services Inc., in 1987 as a privately owned, Medicaid-licensed home care agency. In October 2000, Well Care purchased New Hanover Home Health, a Medicaid-certified agency, from New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

In 2012, Well Care acquired At Home Quality Care, and in December, the acquisition of Davie County Home Health Agency was completed.

Long’s philosophy as it relates to the home health care business is “to provide services in the home that meet or exceed the expectation of the patient and provide a great customer experience,” he said.

Long and other company officials reiterated the importance of quality of care.

He said that Well Care is ranked in the top 10 percent of the CMS Outcomes and is accredited by the Joint Commission, a not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the U.S.

Well Care is also a member of the Association for Home & Hospice Care in North Carolina, and a HomeCare elite recipient.
 

Leadership team

“Well Care is extremely fortunate to have an exceptional senior leadership group who deserves a majority of the credit for what Well Care is today,” he said.

That group includes Wanda Coley, chief operating officer; Leslie Parker, chief nursing officer; Jaimee Marsicano, director of performance and education; Traci Roberts, director of administration; and Mary Alice Mirek, director of Well Care Home Care.

Coley commented on the quality of Well Care services in a December news release after the acquisition of Davie County Home Health.

“Well Care provides best of class home health care. Our goal is to provide excellent care in the home and create an exceptional patient care experience,” she said.

“Consumers searching for the best home health providers will now have a succinct, user-friendly option for choosing quality care in the home,” the release said. “The CMS five-star system will be used like rating systems for other industries such as film, restaurant and hospitality.”

Ratings, according to the release, are based on an agency’s performance on patient outcomes in CMS’ nine clinically relevant quality indicators.

Those include process and outcome measures in the areas of: timely initiation of care, improvement in bathing, improvement in bed transferring, education on patient medications, current flu immunization, improvement in pain interfering with activity, improvement in ambulation, acute care hospitalization and improvement in shortness of breath.