In 1998, When Catherine Brown launched
Coastal Care, a private-pay home health care agency, her grown daughter, Lisa
Hooper, joined her, taking a huge leap of faith and leaving her safe,
well-paying job to help start the company. As Operations Manager, Lisa planned
and executed the move-in to the home health care agency offices and delivered
her second son, Alex on the same day. While Catherine tended to the clinical
aspects of the company, Lisa initially acted as a companion to clients as well
as performed all the office functions from billing to scheduling to payroll.
Both of Lisa’s children, RJ and Alex, were raised in the Coastal Care offices,
further demonstrating Lisa’s commitment to Coastal Care’s success. Now the
office staff has expanded to a total of 6, who manage a field staff of more than
100 home health aides and companions.
Catherine Brown clearly understands that she is in the
business of helping families. Her employees are deployed to the homes, assisted
living facilities and nursing homes of the elderly or critically ill. “ Usually
a family member contacts us when they realize their parent or loved one needs
some extra help,” Catherine explained. All Coastal Care employees are trained to
provide care and to monitor the health of the client, immediately reporting any
medical or behavioral changes. All of the care is supervised by registered
nurses, who are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
“This availability is very reassuring to family members who
cannot be with their loved one because of distance or other circumstances,”
Catherine added. The success of Coastal Care’s family approach to health care
assistance in the home is evidenced by the fact that most of Coastal Care’s
business comes from client referrals. Because of her commitment to customer
satisfaction, Catherine personally interviews each prospective employee. “I hire
only those caregivers whom I would want to care for me,” she said. With
Catherine Brown at the helm and Lisa Hooper in charge of the internal operations
of the organization, it is truly a winning combination.
