IHM

VOLUME FIVE ISSUE FOUR

HEALTH & WELLNESS MAGAZINE

GETTING (NEW)
LEGS UP ON LIFE
The Amazing Work of
Orthotech Prosthetics
& Orthotics

VETS PROVIDED
A NEW HOME
Habitat For Humanity
Restores House For
Vets As They Return to Life

BEYOND
TRADITIONAL
SMILES
Linden Orthodontist
Is Patient-Friendly
and Community-Minded

1 CALL
CONFRONTING A

ST
CRISIS IN OUR MIDST
A Visit to Hope
Against Trafficking

HOME HEALTHCARE
TRANSITIONING
FROM EXPERIENCE
TO EXPERTISE
The three
entrepreneurs
recognized the
home-crisis
situations facing
many of the
seniors in their
community. An
aging population
wants to stay
safely in their own
homes, and many
of them needed
help to make that
happen.

14
1ST CALL
HOME HEALTHCARE
TURNING EXPERIENCE INTO EXPERTISE
MORE THAN
THREE
GUYS
AFIRE
IN
TRUCK
I
/// BY PENELOPE CARLEVATO, R.N.
t is remarkable how three firemen/
paramedics agreed to venture
into a business in the healthcare
industry and, 10 years later, are still
friends running a very successful
company. Innovative Health
Magazine had the pleasure to
profile them a few issues ago, and
we want to update readers with
another look at how their business,
1st Call Home Healthcare,
continues to grow. A company like
theirs deserves more recognition
and commendation.
The three owners of 1st Call Home
Healthcare, Bob Mlynarek, Mike
Barnhard and Jason Groth, met in
1998 at the Harrison Township Fire
Department, and became good friends.
They worked well together, and before
getting into the healthcare field,
they formed a basement remodeling
business. Then the housing crisis hit
Michigan in 2008, and the automotive
industry nearly collapsed. Their venture
abruptly came to a halt; remodeling 25
basements a year dropped to zero.
1st Call Home Healthcare was born in
2010 when the three partners launched
a non-medical home care service to
provide services that would allow the
elderly to have safe and comfortable
lives in their own homes, rather than
being obliged to move into assisted
living facilities. The three entrepreneurs
recognized the home-crisis situations
facing many of the seniors in their
community. An aging population wants
to stay safely in their own homes, and
many of them needed help to make that
happen.
Bob retired after 19 years on the job
as a fireman/paramedic to be the chief
marketing officer and full-time co-owner
of 1st Call. Jason and Mike continue
to work their 24-hour shifts at Harrison
Township Fire Department, and join Bob
in the day-to-day operations on their
days off. They are both in their 23rd year
with the Fire Department, and continue
to see the need for quality and expertise
in caring for patients in their homes.
They plan on joining Bob fulltime in a
couple years. Each of them shares the
ownership equally.
In 2015, they saw the need for added
medical services, and began providing
full-service skilled nursing care and >
INNOVATIVEHEALTHMAG.COM 15
auto-injury care. The trio now has more to watch for conditions in their patients the hours needed both by the employee
than 200 employees and a Cloud-
based computerized system that
‘‘
allows their staff to access the files of
each patient from their
personal computers/tablets/
that might need additional attention.
When medical services are combined
and provided by the same team, very
little can fall through the
cracks.
and the patients. “They are never told
they are employees and have to do a
certain job,” explained Bob. “We are
like a family—not just the staff, but also
the clients we care for.”
phones electronically. This The caretakers know their When a new patient is admitted to
innovation allows 1st Call the system, the staff is informed and
to provide continuous ... A NON- patients. 1st Call’s director
considers whether it is a good fit
full-service care to all their MEDICAL HOME of nursing teaches the for them. Can they provide the care
clients. CARE SERVICE staff to recognize changes
needed? Do the hours work for them?
TO PROVIDE in patients’ conditions
What is their proximity to the patient’s
As first-responders with
SERVICES THAT and bring such needs location? 1st Call is proud of the staff
more than 20 years of
WOULD ALLOW to the attention of the they employ and the teamwork shown
assisting patients at the
THE ELDERLY TO patient’s doctor, avoiding by all members. The owners and staff
onset of an injury, the
HAVE SAFE AND an unnecessary trip to the
recognize that it’s not just a business. It
COMFORTABLE
men began to wonder Emergency Room.
is who they are.

‘‘
what happens to those
LIVES IN THEIR Many of 1st Call’s staff
patients after they have
OWN HOMES... have personal experience The three owners are family men with
been stabilized, loaded with home healthcare, children, but all three partners are
into ambulances and taken so they possess genuine committed to this entire endeavor. They
to hospitals. They realized care and concern for their are extremely proud of their company’s
that they spent only 20 to clients. Staff members are progress, and the ability to help a great
30 minutes with each patient. What number of many patients and their
respected and appreciated, and usually
happens when patients leave their care? families during difficult times.
work in this environment because of
The patient might be in the hospital for the flexibility the job offers. Many have Success will only continue to grow for 1st
weeks or months, and then transferred family obligations that must fit in with Call Home Healthcare as the business
to a rehab center, where it may be
many more months before the patient is
actually able to go home. The patient’s
lives might have changed dramatically,
perhaps forever, and simple tasks that
might have only taken a few minutes
before the accident could now take
hours.
1st Call became aware of the possibility
that their business could extend the
life-line to the outside world for many of
these patients. 1st Call’s caretakers can,
and do, provide more than just 24-hour
home care—they become like part of
the family. Patients do much better when
they have consistent care by the same
team on a daily basis.
The company recognizes that home
healthcare is still a cottage-type industry
that is uniquely positioned to offer the
best care in the region. Because they
provide full-service treatment from a
unified source, they are better equipped

16 IHM HEALTH & WELLNESS MAGAZINE

continues responding to increased Having all its services under one roof Bob, Jason and Mike conduct their busi-
needs for private home care. Technology allows 1st Call Home Healthcare to ness with the conviction that quality patient
will play a large part in caring not only build relationships within the community care, attention to detail, and recruiting staff
for the aging population but also for and offer the best care available to all who really care for their patients, will con-
children and adults. their patients. Referrals by current and tinue to be the hallmark of 1st Call Home
Specifically, a big concern in healthcare previous clients are their primary source Healthcare. Their business will continue to
today, and in the future, is to do of new business, with requests and grow as an increasing number of seniors
everything possible to avoid readmission recommendations from area hospitals as need home care, and the needs of the de-
to the hospital after discharge. Many a close second. pendent community grow more complex.
patients are discharged from the
hospital and have no one to watch
them. The new transitional care program
to be implemented by 1st Call will
electronically monitor vital signs from
patients’ homes. It will track blood
pressure, heart rate, blood sugar and
pulse oximetry, all with Bluetooth
technology and physician involvement.
1st Call has five distinct areas of care
available:
• Non-medical senior care in the
home
• Skilled nursing care at home for high
acuity patients
• Auto injury—helping the patient
back on the road to recovery
• Mental health at home
• Physical therapy, occupational
therapy, speech therapy, language

I
1st Call Home Healthcare
22367 Starks Dr.
Clinton Township, MI 48036
(800) 908-3890
www.3firefighters.com
referrals@3firefighters.com

INNOVATIVEHEALTHMAG.COM 17