Wilmington-headquartered Well Care Health is expanding into hospice care as well as its reach in the Carolinas in the coming years.

It’s all part of continuous growth for the company, as Well Care implements its expansion plans over the next two years, according to Wanda Coley, COO and president of Well Care Health.

Well Care Health first announced plans for expansion following a change in the company's leadership after the in-home care agency’s CEO Wayne Long died in September. Coley took on the role of president while retaining her COO title. Zac Long, Wayne Long's son, transitioned into the role of CEO.

"A lot of this was part of our strategic vision before Wayne passed. So we have a clear path and direction for the next two to three years," Coley said. "The important part of all this is execution."

Coley recently said the company plans on expanding into Cumberland County by the end of the year, a move that would help create 25 to 30 new jobs in that area, she said.

"We are excited to expand our home health services into Cumberland County as part of our footprint. We're ready now to expand into that market ... and it's exciting," Coley said.

Well Care is currently providing home care services in that county.

Well Care currently has three regional home health offices in Raleigh, Wilmington and Advance, along with home care offices in Goldsboro, Jacksonville, Supply and Whiteville. The company employs more than 800 people in the state, with about 590 of those employees in the Wilmington area.

The firm is now planning to also expand into South Carolina.

"At Well Care Health, we have aggressive growth plans over the next two years, which includes expansion into South Carolina and expansion into different service lines like hospice,” Coley said.

The expansion into hospice will be a separate entity, part of the parent company Well Care Health, which also includes Well Care Home Health and Well Care Home Care.

Company officials have not yet released the timeline for launching their hospice plans.

"It is a natural extension … of the services that we are already providing. And we feel being able to provide care to the residents of the Carolinas from birth to the end of life is an important part of what we do," Coley said. "We take pride in taking care of people in the comfort and privacy of their home. We want to be able to extend that same aspect of life through the end of life with hospice."

Coley said the company is excited to further expand the reach of the agency. 

"We are looking forward to the growth of the organization and take pride in what we do. Well Care is a five-star home health agency exemplifying excellent in-home care,” Coley added. "Care in the home is the lowest-cost setting so our goal is to provide quality care while controlling health care costs through an exceptional patient experience, and that's through the entire lifecycle.”