GrandCare Sets High Standard for Home Health Care

Based in Pasadena, GrandCare Health Services provides award-winning home health care, caregiving and orthopedic services to aging adults and others in need of in-home care.- Courtesy photo

By Emily G. Peters

Dignity in one’s living situation should be accessible to all, but often requires the involvement and support of others. When caregiving company GrandCare Health Services itself fell on rocky shores, it took a team to lift the agency to its feet again.

“Over the last 15 years GrandCare grew quickly, but in 2014 became cash flow negative and needed substantial new investment,” explains Dr. David Bell, CEO and chairman of GrandCare and born-and-raised Altadenan. Recognizing the critical value behind the agency’s services, Bell moved from investor to a more involved role as CEO to lead a revival.

“It was a huge honor for GrandCare to be named by Fortune Magazine as one of the 10 Best Workplaces in the Aging Services healthcare market for 2018,” he says. “The fact that our team received this honor within a year of restructuring the company is a testament to what’s possible when a team just won’t quit.”

The recognition is impressive, especially in an industry enmeshed in the physical and emotional residuum of caregiving. GrandCare’s services focus on medical and non-medical care for seniors in their homes, with a specialty in-home rehabilitation for those recovering from foot, knee, hip and spine surgery. The environment naturally demands a high level of empathy, clinical skill and deep respect for patients—core values for GrandCare.

“GrandCare has created a culture that puts the patient at the center of care. Just a few weeks ago, we got a call at 8:30 pm on a Saturday asking if we could see a patient sent to another home health agency and who was experiencing excessive bleeding and pain from his operated knee,” recalls Dr. Luke Scott, GrandCare’s director of therapy services. “I texted our registered nurse, who didn’t hesitate to go—and didn’t leave the patient’s house until he was stable and the doctor notified.” The speedy attention to the patient wound up sparing him rehospitalization and a costly insurance bill.

Born and raised in Altadena, Dr. David Bell joined GrandCare Health Services as an investor in 2012, ultimately becoming its CEO and chairman. – Courtesy photo

“I’m extremely proud to work with people who are so committed to helping complete strangers as if they were their own family members,” says Scott.

With network partners including Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Medicare (with whom they hold a 4.5-star rating) and others, GrandCare has locations in Pasadena, Los Angeles, Torrance, Orange County and San Diego. The agency’s services continue to grow—but not without a keen understanding of its obstacles.

“Creating greater awareness of our services, the quality of our care and our outstanding clinical outcomes,” says Bell, naming the agency’s biggest challenges. Yes even as major shifts in healthcare legislation continue to spark debates along party lines, Bell and the GrandCare team focus on positive patient outcomes when envisioning the future of home health care.

“We are always striving to be better, and it’s gratifying to see successes that remind us that we’re making progress in the right direction,” he says. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that we’re saving lives every day.”

GrandCare Health Services is located at 2555 E. Colorado Blvd., fourth floor in Pasadena. For more information, contact the GrandCare team at grandcarehealth.com | (866) 554-2447 and follow along on Twitter @grandcarehealth and Facebook @grandcarelacounty.