William James, the esteemed philosopher and pioneering physician from New York, once said, If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it. And it is in New York that a team of professional paramedics passionately resolved to create a framework for delivering a greater level of quality and care to area seniors in need of medical transport services. As a result of that initiative, the enterprise has evolved to attain distinction as a leading EMS provider who continues to serve seniors, as well as countless others in need of care. 2 SeniorCare
Michael Vatch is a former nursing home administrator who has worked as a paramedic for 25 years. Today, as Chief Executive Officer of a New York-based ambulance service known as SeniorCare EMS, his operation is the only one in the state actually led by a licensed paramedic, and to that point, don t expect to find Vatch too tied to a desk tending to administrative duties. He still frequently rides along in the truck and offer hands-on assistance in the fulfilling of services. That s all part and parcel of the passion, professionalism and pursuit of clinical excellence which is at the core of SeniorCare EMS, in fact, that SeniorCare 3
very drive and attention-to-detail has empowered this enterprise to transition from a small staff with only three ambulances into a state-of-the-art EMS operation that today employs more than 600 people and a fleet of more than 100 ambulances and emergency response vehicles. That all began in 2005 when Vatch explains there had been increasing awareness of the lack of medical transport services for seniors in areas such as Queens and The Bronx, the northernmost of the five boroughs comprising New York City. Vatch says most transport operators were more focused on capitalizing on opportunities with large hospitals, leaving a gap in needed services for nursing homes and centers specializing in elder care. By understanding the unique needs of seniors and dedicating the company to the fulfillment of inter-facility transport services for this market segment, Vatch says SeniorCare was able to establish many significant relationship, and it is this to which he attributes the company s rapid growth. We were upfront about who we were and what we were focusing on... it resonated with our clients, but also the people we 4 SeniorCare
Michael Vatch hired and helped us narrow down people we were recruiting. We were providing geriatric care and we understood how that was different from other forms of care, but we also understood what was important to nursing home administrators in terms of response speed, customer service and communication, says Vatch. Yet, Vatch also explains that nursing homes today have transitioned to provide services for other patient segments, atypical of the traditional model, and over time, clients would ask whether SeniorCare EMS could also respond to these needs. SeniorCare 5
As Vatch says, We evolved as the needs of the patients and the needs of our clients evolved... whenever there was a need from our clients, our aim was to serve those needs. SeniorCare EMS has since transitioned to offer the spectrum of Basic Life, Critical Care and Advance Life Support. It additionally provides specialized bariatric transport services in response to the growing issue of obesity which undermines patients health. In some cases, SeniorCare EMS services extend well beyond their base in New York in the fulfilling Interstate & Long Distance Transport. In this capacity, SeniorCare EMS coordinates all logistics necessary to transporting a patient over long distances at the basic or advanced levels of care. Patients have been transported over-the-road by as far as Ohio, yet SeniorCare has also evolved to offer door-to-door services for all airports in a tri-state area, working with all major commercial air carriers as well as air ambulance services on private jets. Today, SeniorCare EMS is also the go-to provider of stand-by services for a number of community events. On any 6 SeniorCare
given weekend, Vatch says company staff can be found ready to assist whenever a situation may warrant at a variety of public gathering, from concerts and movie premiers to marathons such as the recent New York City Marathon which annually draws more than 50,000 participants. Vatch says SeniorCare staff was very proud and excited to be the exclusive EMS provider during this year s marathon, and personnel were stationed all along the marathon route, the command communications center and the finish line too. Ambulance Crashworthiness Defined Proven in crash tests to deliver lifesaving performance 165 American Way Jefferson, NC 28640 800-374-9749 www.aev.com info@aev.com An ASV Company SeniorCare 7
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EXCEEDING IN EXPERTISE To become one of the most respected ambulance services in New York, Senior- Care has invested heavily in training, staff development and material resources. On the staff side of that perspective, well prior to their first shift, every employee undergoes a thorough orientation with members of the company s leadership Team. In addition to the overview of patient rights, considerable focus is placed on the safe treating and transporting of the geriatric population. Vatch says transport services have been designed to correspond and create the same level of care found in the environment of the nursing home for which the patient is familiar. SeniorCare personnel have been similarly equipped with all the training involving proper patient lifting, carrying, safe driving, and more. Unlike many other ambulance companies, SeniorCare deploys two medically-trained personnel on each ambulance, as opposed to simply a driver and medical staff person. SeniorCare has also invested heavily in innovation and is equipped with state-of-the-art resources which further SeniorCare 9
distinguish this service provider. Senior- Care E.M.S. is one of the only commercial ambulance services in all of New York State which has automated external defibrillators on every basic life support ambulance. Though that isn t a regulatory requirement, Vatch says the philosophy here is that patients should be cared for ABOVE the standards of care. To that point, it is the only ambulance service in the state to be equipped, and train staff, in the application of balloon pump, a critical tool for treating patients afflicted by heart failure. SeniorCare EMS also maintains a Dispatch Center which is staffed 24-hours a day. Operations are complemented by Computer Aided Dispatch system which not only help expedite the taking and tracking of calls, but can also instantly recall information involving previous patients and transports. Dispatchers are properly trained in the prioritizing of calls based on the severity of patient illness or injury. The company also deploys a Global Positioning System to effectively track (in real-time) both the location and status of personnel, enabling SeniorCare to send the nearest and most-appropriate unit to any call, in fact, SeniorCare is 10 SeniorCare
able to arrive at any hospital within thirty minutes. Client additionally benefit from the company s installation of a red phone that direct dials to the communications center. This enables nurses to quickly access SeniorCare without having to spend time looking-up phone numbers. Vatch says the totality of such innovations has helped SeniorCare E.M.S. emerge as the best choice for medical transportation in New York. Beyond the transportation services, SeniorCare EMS has also evolved to offer critical evacuation training and emergency management in the case of disasters. Vatch explains that in the wake of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, many New York hospitals have steppedup training to better respond to such scenarios. However, he says smaller nursing home do not always the fiscal and human resources to effectively undertake this training. SeniorCare s training and on-site assistance has since proven crucial to facilities dealing with emergencies prompted by Hurricane Sandy and other storm events which forced evacuations. What s more, because it serve such a wide network of nursing homes, whenever one encounters an emergency, SeniorCare 11
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such as a power outage or other situation, SeniorCare is able to identify and access resources available at other facilities, to assist another in need. As Vatch affirms, the company takes its customer service responsibilities very seriously, treating all in the same manner that personnel would want their own close family members to be treated. As for the future, Vatch says he anticipates the company will continue to grow, but not for the mere sake of growth, rather in accordance with needs of the clients SeniorCare EMS is serving. He expects the company will also advance in community para-medical modeling, designed to provide care in such a way as to mitigate unnecessary trips to hospital through the deployment of more localized services. Otherwise, the focus at SeniorCare EMS involves constant improvement in delivering clinical excellence. As Vatch says, We re striving to make sure we re operating as efficiently as we can... reevaluating every process to see if we can do it smarter or better. And in terms of the level of care compelling efforts of staff at SeniorCare EMS, there may not be room for improvement in that realm. Vatch, no doubt, speaks for all when he says, We love treating patients and have a real passion for serving our clients... we feel very fortunate to be able to do what we do. SeniorCare 13