Behind the Counter
Behind the Counter - Business Stories from the Four Corners:
Real Businesses. Real Conversations. Right Here in Our Community.
Every week, I sit down with local business owners to hear the real stories behind their work — the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Whether they run a bakery, a repair shop, or a creative studio, each of them has something powerful to share.
This is more than a podcast — it’s a celebration of the hustle, heart, and humanity that keep the Four Corners thriving.
Behind the Counter
How Basin Health Turns Compliance Into Better Patient Outcomes
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What happens when a disaster-response leader gets pulled back home by a family tragedy and suddenly has to run a deeply regulated health care company that shows up in people’s living rooms instead of a clinic? That’s the heart of our conversation with Vince Moffitt of Basin Health Companies, the locally owned provider serving Farmington and communities across Northwest New Mexico with home health care, hospice, and caregiving.
We get real about what “keeping seniors at home” actually requires: clinical standards, caregiver training, patient goals, and a documentation burden so strict that a small mistake in a chart can have massive consequences during a CMS audit. Vince also explains how breaking out of organizational silos and leaning on state and national associations helped drive a full cultural shift and earn five-star home health outcomes.
Then we dig into the money and policy forces shaping care, including Medicare reimbursement cuts and the growing influence of Medicare Advantage plans. Vince shares why denials and minimal approvals can leave patients without meaningful therapy, and why advocacy in Santa Fe and Washington, DC is not optional if communities want sustainable home-based care. We also touch palliative care expansion, rural health care logistics, and the unique cultural realities of serving Navajo Nation families with respect and clarity.
If you care about aging in place, hospice support, rural health care, or how local businesses survive in a world of national chains, listen now, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
Be sure to follow or subscribe! And, if you're a local business owner who'd like to be featured - or know someone whose story should be told - get in touch at Ken@StrategicHorizonsConsulting.com
This show is brought to you by Strategic Horizons Consulting (a division of Ken Collins Marketing).
Why Aging At Home Matters
SPEAKER_01What does it take to keep an entire country's elderly population safe, healthy, and in their own homes? That's not a rhetorical question. It's what Vince Moffat and his team at Basin Health Companies deal with every single day. Basin Health Companies is the largest locally owned and operated provider of home health, hospice, and caregiving services in San Juan County. They've been doing this since 1992. Over three decades of serving our community. That means they've been helping seniors stay in their homes when hospital visits aren't necessary, providing hospice care when families need support, and training caregivers across the region. But here's what's really interesting. Vince doesn't stop there. He's also behind a Royal Rescue and Recreational Training. He's a board member of the Farmington Chamber of Commerce. He's a board member of the Four Corners Econom on Four Corners Economic Development. Um this is a guy who's all in on this community. In a healthcare world dominated by big corporations and national chains, Basin Health Companies is a rare find, a locally owned operation that's become essential infrastructure for our region. They're serving Farmton, Bloomfield, Aztec, Kirtland, Gallup, Grant, Shiprock, basically everywhere in Northwest New Mexico. So let's talk to Vince Moffitt about what it means to be the hometown health care provider in 2026. The challenges, the rewards, and why keeping people home matters more than ever. Vince. Hey, Kim, how are you? Good, man. Good. I've had you on the think tank before.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that was fun. I remember driving around in your truck.
SPEAKER_01That was a good time. I think I think we even had a conversation about maybe doing it again, but just stopping at some random person's home, stripping shirts off, and just wrestling in the front yard.
SPEAKER_03I think we did talk about that. Yeah. Well, you know, uh, those types of things would definitely uh if nothing else, they might get us thrown in jail. I don't know. Somebody called and the cops have to come and think we're crazy, which we probably are a little bit crazy.
SPEAKER_01I think it would benefit me more than you.
SPEAKER_03I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Oh man. So your your parents started this business, right?
SPEAKER_03That's correct. It was my mom, my dad, my ex-wife, and one of their investors. So my ex-wife and their investor were their first employees. And uh yeah, they started in 1992 just doing home health care. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so what what um what were the circumstances around, if if you don't mind saying any of that, what's what are the circumstances around you kind of coming in and taking control of the company?
SPEAKER_03Wow. So um I'm gonna try to keep this as short as possible. But um, as you know, I I I worked in disaster response and and was doing uh things with an organization called Team Rubicon that took veterans, helped reintegrate them in civilian life through continued service, disaster as a service. I was able to leverage my skills from the fire service and working for FEMA Urban Search and Rescue and do that, and and I loved it, I was very passionate about it, and I really was never involved with this business. Um, however, my sister was, and she'd been involved
A Family Business Takes Over
SPEAKER_03in it for you know over 20 years, really helped my parents build the business, develop programs, and in night or in 2015, I think it was maybe 2014, my daddy came to me and said, Hey, we're gonna retire and we're gonna sell the business. Do you want to get involved? And and I said no. Um, you know, it was my sister's gig, she was gonna buy the business, and um, I was doing what I loved to do and and really had a passion for. And unfortunately in 2016, with combination of you know, mental health, substance abuse, stress, all those things, my sister, for whatever reason, took her life. Um, so she died of suicide in May of 2016. Um, and it devastated our family, as you can imagine. Yeah, it was and devastated the company because she was such a big part of the company, too. So a few months went by, you know, after the dust kind of settled around that, my dad came to me and said, Hey, we need some help. Um, you know, really, they were still struggling with, and they still are at some level of my sister's death and grieving and all that. But she was so much a part of this company and this organization. If they came into work and came into the office, they it just made it harder for them. They thought about her, and they just felt like they were really not doing a good job of what they needed to do. So he came to me and said, Hey, is there any way you can help? If nothing else, help us keep the wheels on the bus until we can figure out a way to sell the business. We want to take care of our employees, we've got a good thing going, but it's just gonna take us some time. And of course, you know, I'm gonna take care of my family and do what's best. So um I started looking into it and looking in the industry, and and you know, I'd ran a big organization before with Team Ruicon. I was a director of operations, and we had thousands of people involved, but this was different, a whole other industry that's highly regulatory, lots of compliance issues, um, different motivation for the employees who are here. I mean, honestly, that's a big thing, you know. Um, so and and I wasn't gonna be able to travel and go to disasters anymore, which was a big thing that I really um loved doing. And so in investigating and looking at it, I said, you know, everything I've done in my life has been service-based. This is a service-based industry, industry, and um I've got to help my parents out, but if I'm gonna do this, it's gonna take a tremendous amount of time and energy to learn everything. And basically, I'm just going to, it's gonna be a whole new new game. So I decided at that time, if I was gonna do it, I might as well step in and and purchase a business, basically plug in where my sister was and save my dad that stress of trying to find a buyer and do all those things. And so, yeah, and so in 2016 we worked out our arrangements and how it's gonna work. Um, in 2017, I came in as a CEO on January 1 of 2017 as a CEO of Based Health Companies.
SPEAKER_01Wow, that was a quick turnaround. Yeah, it was a lot. I mean, I didn't mean to make you revisit that, but dude, like turning uh you know to try and find good in things, you turned a family tragedy into just an amazing business.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, and you know, they built, I mean, uh uh obviously basin has been around for a long time, and they they've done so many great things, and my parents are amazing people, and and um, but it just wasn't my jam. Right. And um, I will say that it did not come without challenges, right? Um, you know, I I talk to people all the time, you know, the perception of multi-generational businesses and family businesses, it is stressful. Um, it puts a lot of strain. I saw the the strain it had on my parents and my sister's relationship, and that's part of why I didn't want to get involved. Um, you know, it was their deal, and I saw that strain. And even coming in the way I did, um, needing to learn and and use my parents basically as guides and mentors and and consultants, I guess is the best word. Yeah, I did things differently. And um that created strain on our relationship as well and created stresses in the family dynamic, but you know, we got through it. And um, you know, I was committed. There's times, honestly, where I'm thinking, did I make the right decision? Sure. Um, you know, I I I really, you know, wondered that sometimes. But now looking back at it, um, it's been a great thing, and I'd love it, by the way. Yeah, um, you know, I think that's one of the things I wasn't sure if I ever would love it, but the the work we do, um, taking care of people and allowing them to stay independent in their homes, our patients, you get to meet them, you know, the caregivers. And then I love going and educating people on our industry and advocating for because we can't raise our prices. I mean, that's one of the things that's really hard about the industry.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03So we're competing, everything around us is going up, fuel prices, you know, all the logistical issues and wraparound services are going up. Yeah, but the government's cutting our reimbursement rates every day. So um, but I love going and doing that, going to DC and going to Santa Fe and advocating for our industry. So I've really gotten to where it's a passion of mine. And then I just would add that um now two of my I have three children, um, two daughters are nurse practitioners and a son who has an MBA. And uh now my son and one of my daughters works for me, and we have a great working relationship, and I get to see them on a regular basis and watch them work, and that's that's amazing. Oh, that is. I mean, that was something I hadn't expected, and uh, I really enjoy that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So, apart from the family dynamics in the early days, especially what what were the early days like running the business?
SPEAKER_03Well, it was stressful. I mean, um like you said, is you know, learning all these different aspects of, you know, because we deal with um insurance, Medicare, Medicaid. Most of what we're doing is Medicare, Medicaid. We have a private pay branch for some of our services, but the regulatory requirements are huge and making sure that things are done right and correctly. Coming in this, I had management experience, but I was not a clinician. So trying to learn the clinical aspects of what we had to do and why it was important and why it was required, um, the best outcomes for our patients, um, it was a lot. So, what I did early on was I got really involved in our state association. Um, I figured, you know, I can I can surround myself with people I work with who are subject matter experts here in the business, but I need another perspective. And I need someone that can go out because maybe I want to do things differently, which I did. I found
Learning A Regulated Industry Fast
SPEAKER_03out. So our state association and our national associations were huge resources for me, building up that brain trust of people I can lean on, ask questions to. And um almost immediately, as soon as I could, I joined our state board. I became a member of our state um association board, eventually became the president. I'm currently the past president. Um, but that was a great opportunity for me to learn. And of course, there's webinars and there's schools and stuff, but um, yeah, it was a lot, it was like drinking from a fire hose, no pun intended, based off my previous career. Yeah, but it really was a lot.
SPEAKER_01So that that's I don't want to skim over that because um I I've benefited from that. When when you leave the community that not permanently, but when you when you look outside of the community and collaborate with people outside of your community, it opens up your mind and your your your mental reach, I guess is maybe a word for that, where you you get ideas, you get exposure to ideas and methodologies and all these kinds of things that aren't say native to where you're located now, you know. So um uh I f I find that a lot. The the people that seem to be a little more successful are those that have brought outside ideas in um instead of living in the bubble. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. I think you're absolutely right. I mean honestly, I've never been the sharpest tool in the shed anyway, right? And so what I try to do is I try to surround myself with people who are smarter than I am, but when you're when you're not sure about the way things work and and you're relying on people um who in a you know, I heard somebody say one time that we can't be we become inbred in our organizations, you know? Yeah, and um that's probably not the the best term, but I I think siloed is a good example. So you get used to doing things the way you do them, and change is very difficult, and you don't even know how to change. You read articles about people who are doing things different or successful or whatever, but you know how much opportunity you have to to reach out to them and to learn from them. And and you're absolutely right. I mean, there's people out there, and like I said, surrounding myself, people that know more and have been there and have done that. And um when I looked at when I came in and I looked and like I said, it was a success successful company, but things have changed tremendously in the last 10 years, even the way CMS, the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services, who we work for and license us and everything, they've changed the way they they they pay us, they've changed our our rates, but they changed the expectations. Um and we were doing things the same way we'd been doing it for you know decades. And so going in there, I was like, okay, I need to talk to some people who've made these changes and how they're working. And and and through there, you know, we're we're now a five-star agency for our home health care, which is a is a rating that CMS gives based off of your outcomes, patient outcomes. And we're the only five-star agency in Farmington, and one of I think eight or nine in the state of New Mexico, and we're the top four percent in the nation. Wow. Um, so that was a huge thing. But we had to change the way we had done everything, and and really it was a cultural change. It was, but I couldn't have done it and I wouldn't even have the idea of how and where and why. Sure. If I just stayed in these walls and not exposed myself to so I think that's great advice for anybody in any industry you're in to do the same thing. I mean, once again, you know, there's so many people out there that are really probably better than we are at things, and yeah, and they have stuff they can learn from us as well. You know, it goes both ways. So that's how it works.
SPEAKER_01Nobody knows everything. And so you you you on your shortfalls, you look to the people that do know and incorporate that, and it only makes you better. That's I mean, that's how growth works.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, now, you know, one of the things that that's happened now is we have agencies around the state, and actually around the country. I have a call tomorrow with someone from Texas. They're they're calling me, and um, we're doing a discovery call on some issues, but um they call they ask us for advice and we mentor them. So, you know, we've moved ourselves in that place. It doesn't mean that I'm not getting mentors still, and I don't have people I reach out to, but you pay it forward. And so it's it's uh it really helped me tremendously um in learning. And it's something, you know, relationships, I think in business anywhere are the most important thing. You know, I tell people all the time when they ask me, what's the most important thing you do in your business? Build relationships. And when I say that, it could be people outside your industry too, and they're genuine relationships, but you never know when that person is you you might need something to ask that person for advice or you know, for like I said, mentorship, whatever it might be, yeah. Um, and vice versa.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You know, it took me entirely too long to actually figure that out about Farmington, is that relationships always play uh um some kind of role at various levels, no matter where you are, but Farmington seems to be like a really high percentage of business done as a uh the basis of that business is relationships. Like we're a highly relationship-driven
Relationships And Kindness As Strategy
SPEAKER_01community.
SPEAKER_03You know, I I think you're absolutely right. You know, like when I see people when they don't treat each other right, especially in this community or something, and then it comes back to bite them in the end because now they're across the table trying to negotiate some sort of deal or or ask for, you know, you know, some sort of service, and and yeah, you know, we're so in in our industry it's true too. And I see it with the people who are from here and and local to Farmington, um, in our industry, and I include that way, nursing homes, a hospital, you know, um the other home health care and hospice agencies, you know, we have employees here that they're their relatives, their spouses, their kids, their moms work at the our competitors. Right. So how we treat each other and talk to each other is really important. And then somebody who works for me, I know someday may work for someone else.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, you know, the nursing ones, the same thing. We are connected, and and people do, they they kind of sometimes hop around. Um, we're lucky we've created a culture, I think, in the system here where we don't have as much turnover as we used to, but I really respect that and try to teach that with our employees. You know, we do not talk bad about other businesses. We, you know, really, I think you and I were talking before we started this, you know, those those businesses are important. Like I said, they're hiring our friends, our neighbors, they're they're contributing to our our local economy. Um so it's really important that they be successful too. We're just going to do things our way. Right. But yeah, we're so tied together that, you know, and one of our um core principles here, you know, if you look at our values is kindness. And we say kindness is our brand. And um I think that's so important because you know, somebody's having a bad day. You know, let you don't know what's going on, let them do what they're they're doing, treat them with kindness, and and someday, you know, that will pay off dividends, you know.
SPEAKER_01And that's key, not just putting kindness down on your core values because it's a it's a nice thing to have on the plaque in the hallway or on the website or whatever, but live it. Live that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, someone told me a story one time about a guy who was driving to work and cruising along, drinking his coffee, listening to the morning news or whatever, and doing speed limit. And some guy came behind, he was in a rush, honking, honking, and and finally got around him, and then they got up to a light, and they're next to each other at the light, and he looks over and it was his neighbor. And this guy had been flipping them off and honking his horn, and he said, you know, our relationship was never the same after that moment. And and I thought about, you know, here they are at the same place, you know, it didn't get any farther ahead, and that, you know, lack of kindness and that that uproar um affected their relationship for the future. And so I I think it is important. We do stress that a lot, and when we ever have to coach or mentor, you know, sometimes discipline, we always look back at our values and say, hey, which one of our values was not followed here? And um I think and those are opportunities for growth. I mean, we're all learning and getting better in life. We just got to take care of each other.
SPEAKER_01Anybody that says they have it all together, all at one time, is is delusional. Yeah, you're absolutely right. You know, um, we see that a lot. So, what's what's a typical day behind the counter look like?
SPEAKER_03Well, so you know, we run um just like most businesses, we're running eight to five here. Um, and so, you know, my my job and my role um obviously is to set direction for the company. And I and I'm really clear, like I've I call it, you know, you'll you'll understand this from the military, your military background, but I call it the commander's intent.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So, hey, these are my expectations, and whatever decisions you make throughout the day should should meet those those expectations, that strategic goal that we got going forward. And then they provide the tactics and allow the people the flexibility to to do that. As long as it's not unethical, immoral, illegal, um, you know, in the writ in the way they do their job, um, we allow a lot of that flexibility and occasionally do a course correction. So, you know, I spend a lot of my time focusing on things externally, making
How The Operation Runs Daily
SPEAKER_03sure that I'm looking at the the highest viewpoint, making sure that we're staying consistent with changes in our industry, we're staying up on things like that. And then I have a great team that, you know, um I say they work eight to five, and the reason I point that out is because we always, especially with hospice, happens a lot, but we always have people on call, we always have people going out doing doing business after hours. Um, but um we need these people need time off too. So we we try to balance that. It's an extremely difficult. And if we were open seven days a week, um, you know, we could stay open so or we could stay busy seven days a week, and uh we do have people working, but not everybody. Um, but usually, you know, our our clinicians will come in, um, they'll get their daily visits, they'll gather their supplies, they go out in the field, they do their visits, and uh then they come back and there's a ton of flexibility. One of the things I like about what we do as an industry, as opposed to like clinicians that work in other industries, is they have they have flexibility in how they structure their day. They they schedule their visits, um, they work with the patient, and then if they need to go to their kids' school for uh, you know, Valentine's Day celebration, they can do that. Or if they want to, you know, go and and um finish their their visits uh early in the day and then they want to go play around the golf with their husband, you know, maybe nine holes is all, but they're able to do that, and then they do their charting when they get done, you know, whatever. There's so much flexibility in this industry um that um it's it's kind of nice for them. But um, yeah, they they just go out and they they they're in people's homes. And and everything we do, by the way, is structured to keep people at home for as long as possible, living independently.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And and yeah, that is a really noble cause that these people are doing. Um, even with hospice, same thing. Yeah. Keep them around for as long as possible, as comfortable as possible to enjoy the last days they have um on this earth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I have uh personal experience with a with a family member that was trying to do that, was trying to stay in her home and and live independently, and you know, a person was coming by and making sure she was okay and and doing things for her, but she fell and broke her hip and had to go um. get surgery on her hip and then was sent over to one of the um nursing homes for they have a uh f physical therapy program for physical therapy and in her mind she was thinking okay I'll just get through this physical therapy and I can go back home I can go back home and she never went back home and that was devastating for her.
SPEAKER_03Well you bring up a couple
Preventing Falls And Supporting Hospice
SPEAKER_03of good points one is it's a lot cheaper for people and taxpayers to prevent a broken hip than to have to treat a broken hip. Yes. So that's where our our services come in. You know getting a caregiver for your elderly parent or your um maybe you have a family member that has some sort of medical disability or something like that. You know having that caregiver help prevent falls make sure that they have that and to keep them company a lot of times that's another aspect.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Little simple things cooking cleaning you know helping bathe I mean there's all these just quality of life things that we can do. And when someone does have an especially a broken hip is a good example of they the statistics show that that is a rapid decline after that happens towards end of life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And so um anything you do to prevent that. And then after it happens you know like your friend I think a lot of people want to go home but one rehab facilities have a place and so a lot of patients don't want to go to rehab facilities but they need to because they get regular care they've got 247 you know available people there which we don't provide that. And then when they're ready to go home then we can provide someone they're still homebound but the goal is to help them continue to get better so they can once again return to a fairly normal life. Yeah. And that's where home health will plug into that a lot. So you know you have the caregiving on the front end to prevent it from happening and then you have home health after and then if you do have that rapid decline and you know hospice is is an answer the earlier you get that the better. And they the statistics show that the earlier you go on hospice the better quality of life and the longer you live. Sure. Which a lot of people are scared to because they hear hospice and they think oh my gosh. Yeah exactly it's like no it's not the end yet. Right. We know the end's coming but let's prepare for it and let's help you you know the the support the family gets that the patient gets and then hopefully there's more quality in their life and um you know I could that's a whole nother podcast of how that works but um social workers chaplains nurses home health aides therapists sometimes and then when the patient does pass we provide bereavement services for the family. Yeah CMS requires it for 13 months but we'll do it for as long as the person wants it.
SPEAKER_01And um we do grief counseling we have grief groups we we we you know basin has a lot of different services to provide that aid we all know yeah I mean most people have lost somebody and you know what it's like um you know like I said when I started this conversation my parents are still probably dealing with the loss of my sister absolutely you know yeah so you know that those types of services are important and we don't want people to not have that hospice is as much about the family as is patient honestly yeah yeah definitely I was just thinking of uh I do analogies I come up with analogies all the time um maybe that the mindset it's not the end it's the beginning of the last chapter right and so with hospice services maybe you know with those services that lap last chapter is a really great chapter.
SPEAKER_03Yeah and I think you know there's so many things when people get the end of life and we've had people um reconcile with family members we've had people get baptized we've had people um basically uh okay I haven't told you this my whole life now I want to lay it out here's you know here's my life story or or whatever you know just this powerful stuff we have family members who have been um you know basically estranged or whatever from the family have come back I mean that's a powerful thing you need a social worker for that for sure you can navigate some of that I mean so many different aspects but um you know and I and what I'd love probably the most is when you see these these um people when they get towards the end of life and they're going out and they're still doing some some things that are on their bucket list. Yeah you know we still provide we've got people getting married you know we've had all kinds of different things um we're uh you know taking someone out on a a boat ride that the their last that was always uh you know something they loved in life and they haven't been able to do it for years and we provide a team of people they can go out there and take them out for one last cruise in that you know that hot rod boat that they had or up in the uh World War II fighter plane I mean just all this exciting stuff you know that people could still want to do and hospice can help make that kind of stuff happen.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing. Yeah yeah so what what part of the business takes the most time or energy?
SPEAKER_03You know it's kind of funny because you know we have four different branches here and the one that probably is the most time the most energy would be home health. And that's because of a regulatory aspects. Sure. You know our clinicians is without a doubt the most charting they have to do in probably almost any of the other medical disciplines um the the it's just there's a lot to it and ironically it's probably the business line we have that we struggle the most financially. Yeah you know but one we're my attitude with it is we're employing people we're providing a much needed service to the community and what I do to try to help improve that is I go and do advocacy work as much as I can in DC meeting with our elective officials with CMS making sure that I'm part of our national association so we can do whatever we can to to raise awareness
The Most Demanding Service Line
SPEAKER_03and and improve um the the basically the reimbursement rates for those services because of all the work that it requires you know but um but you know we're seeing you know we're seeing some really cool things that come out of home health and people you know we had a just a really quick anecdotal story I had a friend of mine who recently contacted me about his mom and thought she was wanted hospice was ready for hospice and she was based off of when we saw her without a doubt she'd qualified for hospice um she did not want hospice and so we ended up putting her on home health services and we saw a total change in her health her attitude her lifestyle you know they'll say hey you saved her life and what all it was was a nurse and a therapist going in there working with her and saw this change and those types of stories right there that those make it worth it absolutely 110%.
SPEAKER_01Because now they're they're not alone all or most of the time they've got someone there to talk to there's someone there doing things for helping with with things and and all that kind of thing and it just it's like something sometimes things that are so simple make just a huge impact because of just what it does to your mind.
SPEAKER_03Well I think people need some sort of encouragement and set goals and and we do that. So in in home health there's there's always goals that are set with the patient with their input of hey what do you what are you wanting to accomplish out of this you know what's a win um and and so having someone help you reach those goals and hold you accountable which we do I mean I'll be honest if a patient's not going to be compliant with their plan of care they're probably not a good candidate for home health care because everything we do is not only designed to keep people at home for as long as possible and independent it's also designed to keep people out of the hospital. Yeah um that's what we're doing is if we get a patient that's discharged from the hospital our goal is to help that patient stay out of that facility and the hospital wants the same thing.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03You know the readmissions of patients that hurts their ratings hurts their financial reimbursement rates things like that. So you know we're working in part partnership with them really but um we want a patient who and if they're not going to be able to do those things they're probably not a good candidate for home health you know unfortunately.
SPEAKER_01Right. So do you have I mean I know you have a ton of processes and especially because of the industry that you're in but do you have like systems that that keep everything running smooth?
SPEAKER_03Yeah absolutely um we actually went through a a huge revamping of our systems about three years ago um for example on our home health side to get us to that five star rated agency um it was like rebuilding a house like tearing it down the foundation and rebuilding it but a lot of processes involved um in that aspect and in everything we do I mean we have 800 employers employees so trying to manage that number of people you have to have processes in place so that things don't slip through the cracks. Yeah I'm not gonna say that things don't occasionally slip through the cracks. I mean um you know I think that with any company you you know it's almost like that Swiss cheese analogy you know you you you try to you have holes in Swiss cheese and things can go through those holes but if you stack up several layers of Swiss cheese you know you prevent the number of holes that things can slip through. Yeah that's kind of what we're doing and and you know anytime I always say you know no matter how hard it is sometimes we don't lose we have wins or we learn.
SPEAKER_01There you go.
SPEAKER_03And
Systems That Create Five Star Quality
SPEAKER_03we have a growth mindset. We're always trying to move forward because I figure if we're not trying to grow and move forward then we're actually not holding still we're probably moving backwards. Yeah and so you have to have processes built into your systems especially with my management style where I I call it you know trust but verify. You know we have to verify so we have a lot of like we have a management meeting every week for the different business signs where we're touching base making sure that you know things are on track. We do strategic we just went through a strategic planning session for the next five years. Quarterly we meet with all our employees make sure that they're hitting those goals moving towards so we can reach those goals. Yeah. So process is a huge part of what we do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And um you you mentioned your ma your management style and I'm I'm backing up a bit to you uh allowing certain employees to set how they uh go about their day accomplishing things. So I've always appreciated workplaces that do that um because I know the difference between paying for time and paying for results. So I always resented um just because of my work style um the paying for time mindset from an employer because you know work starts at this time lunch is at this time you go home at this time and if you're outside of those times then we have a problem and if you're inside of those times we're good regardless of what is happening during those times and so I've always I've I've often found underperforming employees who are adhering to the time strictness and they're golden and I would you know push the limits on maybe five ten minutes late every day um but staying two hours later um every day and um just the amount of work that I can get accomplished before lunch um you know I it that wasn't valued because I wasn't adhering to the time. And so I always appreciate an employer that um holds people accountable for the result and then lets them determine within reasonable reasonable guidelines um how that result is achieved.
SPEAKER_03Yeah yeah I think we have you know I came from when I worked for Team Rubicon I worked remote um and I was very effective and efficient um in doing that not everybody can work in that environment though yeah so you really have to look at the employee and you have to look at their job requirements and so what we do is we we call it a hybrid work environment um so those that we can be flexible and allow more flexibility we do that provided things are getting done sometimes we have to do course corrections and just like anything and but we manage the our people and and we treat our um employees like they're customers I mean that is a huge part of like my expectations of all my leaders is you know our my customers are not our patients right my customers are my employees you've mentioned that to me before yeah so trying to trying to find ways to motivate them and keep them happy is really important. We know that we're not going to be able to say yes to everything and there's certain things that you know but it's a give and take thing for sure. I mean you have people you know that they're like you said they're they're they're able to perform at a high level without much oversight and then there's other people that you know because their job requires more oversight. Unfortunately we have to have our doors open from eight to five you know that is actually a CMS requirement is that the hours on our doors are when we'll be open so we do have people that aren't given as much flexibility. They have to be here. But we have opportunities for them to to change positions and to move up and and and to you know we're constantly trying to find ways for um the employees to improve you know we have um you know employees that go to school and we provide flexibility for that so they can get advanced degrees I'm hoping they'll stay with us sometimes they won't but I'm just happy for them because they're making their life better and that's a win to me. We even go we have like a wellness challenge that we run year round where you get paid extra for working out and we have a uh system on how to track that and stuff and and what that's about is I feel like someone's physically healthy, their life's gonna be better they're gonna be happier and they're gonna be better at work and they're gonna be you know helps with mental health that you know there's all these different aspects. So we're trying to find other aspects of things too um but yeah we I I value that because I know that um you know there's a lot of time like to your point where people are just sitting there looking at their their their computer screen because they're supposed to be there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah collected on top they're good.
SPEAKER_03Exactly yeah and we we want to create a group of people and employees that understand that and realize that hey even though maybe your expectation of your job is you have to be here from eight to five but I'm not gonna go into your office say hey what are you doing on your cell phone? Right. You know who you you know is that work related you get off there we're we're just not gonna do that kind of stuff yeah sure I yeah I like the um all of that combined right so so treating uh I've never heard anybody else say it that way treating their employees like they're customers um but yeah there's there's a a a definite mindset on managing a workforce where you as uh a a boss a supervisor a manager a CEO a whoever that's has people underneath them treating those people like the resources that they are and they're not tools they're human resources absolutely and that's why it's called human resources so um but treating them as such meaning that you are there to support and meet their needs um and it's not you know a an entirely one-way com conversation you know you're not there in slavery to your employees but um but the more you're there and showing up for them and supporting them and giving them what they need to grow to develop to all the all those kinds of things breeds loyalty breeds um increased performance just everything yeah and you know we in really you're you're making some great points and you know we used to do 360 evaluations yeah um where you would evaluate your subordinate your peers and your supervisor okay and um you get tremendous feedback that way yeah um it's anonymous it was always anonymous so um of course you know there's people sometimes can be skeptical with stuff like that but what we started doing we we get that was a lot of work doing those 360 evaluations we still do them occasionally with different positions but what we switch to now is every year we do an anonymous survey with all our employees and we ask those questions you know hey do you enjoy your job do you not enjoy your job um you know what could make it better um do you have the tools to be successful and to your point I mean those are things that are so so important you know because you know a lot of people don't understand you know for a company our size a quarter an hour raise um is going to be over half a million dollars right to the business to the business yeah yeah that's not sustainable right and a quarter an hour raise to a full-time employees less than $500 a year they're probably not gonna see that in paycheck right but what are things that we can do that are um things that we can make their life easier more comfortable their work environment better so we really tend to do our best to be able to compensate our employees um fairly and and and you know generously but really make sure that the work environment and you know we're a platinum level um family friendly New Mexico company which is the highest level and I actually sit on their advisory council because I believe so so strongly in that um for example we give all employees their birthday office you know I want to add a vacation day and and you add a vacation day and basically you're closing down the office right and all our referral sources are open so I'm like how can I do this without disrupting our services so man it's cool people get their and then all they have to do is it doesn't have to be on their birthday it has to be within that pay period they take they pick the day they let us know and we give them a day off they get to go celebrate themselves and they have to take it they can't bank that time they have to take it so um you know anything we can do to give them tools to be successful and make their job easier and more comfortable is really important to us. That's awesome. That's amazing um what what part of the business has been the hardest to figure out um you know honestly what we just went through with um making changes to improve our quality outcomes so we become five star. I mean that that that really is the hardest thing yeah um and and I'd say the second hardest thing is getting our employees to to understand how the little things can have big consequences if they're not done and done right. You know those are the little things are the things that can create problems farther down the line. You know if we get audited by CMS is a good example of this and they look at a chart that maybe wasn't um completed you know correctly there was something missing from the chart they don't look at that as a mistake. They call it fraud. Sure and so little things and we do our job every day um making sure that the jobs that and I tell people you know when you're doing things right and you're following you know our protocols and our policies it's a pretty easy job but when we drop the ball there it can have huge consequences for all of us really and so you know making sure getting people to remember because a lot of that stuff's redundant. Right. You know and but the little things matter they make a huge difference and and uh so um they're often missed but you know those two things is are probably our biggest challenge in here.
SPEAKER_01Maybe again my analogy brain is is weird but um maybe uh you know not quite as high stakes but I was just imagining being on a cruise ship holding the hope diamond just in your hand over the balcony of the cruise ship it's not difficult to do but one little twitch man and that's a disaster like it's an actual disaster.
SPEAKER_03I think about that too when you're holding your cell phone you know taking a taking a selfie or something not a big deal right but you do that over you know over the edge of a boat? Yeah over the edge of the boat and all of a sudden you're thinking oh my gosh my grip you know yeah it's the same thing it's not that hard but you know right takes one little thing the stance no I think that's a great analogy for what we do you know I think um and and honestly it could have a lot of consequences I think about the responsibility we have to make sure that one the basic health companies are here for decades to come that we're here for the future um and then two I think making sure that we can do everything we can to be here for our employees and make sure you know if we you know depending on on what happens in our industry and and where things and right now with the current um federal administration you know there's a lot of scrutiny on our our industry and things which there is definitely fraud in our industry without a doubt we know it and there's people doing crazy things but the good players the people that have been here and they've been audited at least every three years sometimes sooner and they you know they they go through the process and they oh my gosh they scour through everything like with a fine-tuned comb um you know maybe cut them a little bit of slack and go after the the the guys who are really disrupting because I promise you this industry is saving taxpayers money when it's done correctly and it's keeping people healthy and out of the the healthcare system yeah which which is what it's intended to do. Yeah. And so um yeah we need to make sure that the little things are being done and that leads into the big things and that we're just protecting this company and this industry and our employees. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Amazing if if you could solve say one challenge in the business tomorrow, what what would that be?
SPEAKER_03Reimbursement rates. Okay. Yeah that's a that's a big one. We actually um had our association help um sponsor a bill this last legislative session um for our Medicaid reimbursement services. Um and um the Medicaid is a poor payer. Um and we compete with our because of our reimbursement rates being where they're at, we try to be as competitive as we can as pay. Yeah, but we're competing with um fast food places. I mean, you can't tell me taking care of someone who's medically fragile is not more difficult than flipping a hamburger. Right. I like the people who are flipping my hamburgers. Yeah, not say anything bad about that. But we these people deserve more money, and so I advocate so hard and work so hard. And this year was the first year in a couple of decades that we were able to get an increase on its own, and we got a 7.5% increase, which is going to go a long way
Reimbursement And Medicare Advantage Problems
SPEAKER_03because we've fallen behind. The federal government actually um gave um through the American Rescue Plan money, ARPA money. Um we have for four years we had an additional um uh reimbursement rate that that really helped stabilize our industry through some difficult times. So this 7.5 is going to help ensure that because that money's gone. And then on the federal side, that's the biggest part. And what happens there is uh not to get too deep into it, but when I started this business or when I came into this business, 90% of my pair mix was Medicare and 10% was other payers.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03Now 50% is Medicare, the 50 other 50% are other payers, and the majority of our Medicare Advantage plans. Yeah, Medicare advantage plans are horrible. Yeah, I can tell you from our experience, they do not want to provide services to their patients, they deny things all the time. It's very minimal. We'll get a therapy patient and they'll approve two visits. The first one's an evaluation, no therapy, and the second one's therapy. That patient's not going to receive any benefit from those two visits. Yeah. But that's what they do. And then there are worse payers, you know, and often we lose money on Medicare, but we have to take them because we want to take care of our community. So trying to get the federal government to understand that and to look at that and to find some way to show it up because people, more and more people, for whatever reason, they're getting duped into going to Medicare Advantage plans. And then when they finally, you know, they're healthy, they get a free gym membership, they get their eye and their dentals included, they're they're all great. But then they have to have a procedure or their health starts to decline 10 years later, and they realize, oh, these aren't great services. Hung out to dry. Yeah. And um, and you know, my colleagues in the hospital and other, you know, and and private providers, no, no one likes the Medicare management plans.
SPEAKER_01Right. I just me talking to not industry professionals, just people, Joe Blow. Um I've I've I've heard the same thing, like over and over about that particular program, you know, and they always there's some variations on what they recommend instead of that, but it's always something besides that. Don't do that one.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but Tom Sell told them to get on the plan on on TV, and you know, and that's the thing, they do a great job marketing, but those companies are in this, you know, Medicare is not trying to make a profit.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03Um, those are that's taxpayer money that's going toward those services. Medicare Advantage plans, they're trying to make a profit. Absolutely. So they're taking the same money from Medicare that they give them to manage this, and now they have to find a way to make it profitable, and they do. Um, and it's not the best for the for the patient. Yeah. Um, you know, so you know who's really doing well, the people selling plans.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03You know, they they get X amount of money for Medicare, but they get X amount plus plus plus for these Medicare events, Humana or whoever it might be, they're like you're incentivizing them. And um, we do have some ethical people out there selling these plans, by the way, that they're they're they're honest with the patients. Say, hey, you know, the the you get this for this plan, and you get this with the the the Medicare, traditional Medicare, this is what's gonna cost you, but the payoff's gonna be here. This sometimes they still go with Medicare Advantage Plan because they want the free gym membership. Sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Especially right around, you know, the New Year's. They can go in there for three or four weeks and then they're done. Um, you know, so it's it's a it's a frustration for sure.
SPEAKER_01So, where would you like the business to be in the next few years?
SPEAKER_03Well, we obviously we want to continue to grow. Um, and I want the business to be um something that um continues to meet the needs of the the community but can expand services. So we're opening up a palliative care branch soon, which is takes care of uh patients with chronic um health issues. Okay. Um so I I guess the best example would be you know the frequent flyers of the hospital. The people that are going back in there all the time for the same type of thing. We can help manage those symptoms at home. So once again, relieve pressure from the the for the hospital and help that patient be more comfortable and and actually receive the right kind of care. So we're looking at that. Um we're looking at some expansion and some other business lines too that I don't I'm not ready to talk about yet. But um, yeah, you know, once again we have a growth mindset, so we're gonna continue to grow. And I really like to see my kids continue to get involved and see them, you know. Um, I think you know, this
Growth Plans And Palliative Care
SPEAKER_03this is a multi-generational business. I think it can continue to be a multi-generational business. Um, and uh the aging population is growing. Yeah, I mean it's the fast and growing demographic in the world, but definitely in the United States and in New Mexico.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So it doesn't matter where you're at, it's growing. And somebody's got to take care of these people, and we gotta ensure that these services, yeah, my dog's barking in the background. Um we gotta ensure these services are available for people, and and um man, our workforce is not growing. So um hopefully we can keep up with that aspect. Okay. Are there any opportunities you've seen but haven't been able to pursue yet? Um, I think there are, especially with AI and some of the technology out there. Um, and the main reason we haven't been able to pursue them really is um there's no there's no opportunity for um exploratory um growth and things with their current reimbursement rate system. Sure. Um it's really hindering. I think the only companies that really can do that are the large, you know, venture capital, large, you know, you know, multi-state national companies.
SPEAKER_01They have a pile of cash that they're gonna be able to do.
SPEAKER_03They do, and they can do some experimentation, they can do a lot of stuff. But I do think that you know this industry, you know, we have got to find a way to stay pertinent, and and you're never going to take away the bedside aspect of a clinician or a caregiver. Um but there's definitely things that can hopefully make their job easier and um you know, and make the patient um, you know, more comfortable at home using some of the current technology. I mean, think about how things have changed in the past 20 years, you know, between like rotary phones and telephones. I mean, I still laugh because we still the only HIPAA compliant way to exchange information is fax machines. Right. And now the faxes are coming across on the computer, which creates a whole nother but but things have changed so fast just in the world if you look at technology and things, and it's happening just even exponentially faster right now. So um it'll be interesting to see what what it does for the healthcare industry and home care.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah and my brain was just firing on all kinds of little things there, so I've to have to think some more on that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, anytime you want to have a conversation, I know we we get on the phone and we want to talk about things.
SPEAKER_01Because you you were touching on some of my I mean, I'm a techno geek and all that kind of stuff, and I've I've uh been playing with AI and and and a lot of different platforms in a lot of different ways and for a lot of different reasons, and it's interesting in ways, but um I'm also railing against AI in in some ways because it's becoming a little too common and and uh people are using it for just everything, and you and it's apparent, you can see it.
SPEAKER_03Well, I know the ethical aspect of AI, and you and then you look even on the environmental aspect and the amount of electricity, the amount of water it uses. Yeah and I hear people and we talk about that, but it doesn't matter what we do at this point, it is here to stay, right? I mean I I I question the ethics and the and uh and different aspects of it as well sometimes, but I mean 2029, Terminator. You remember
Technology And AI Realities
SPEAKER_03when the Terminator came out? That was 2029.
SPEAKER_00Was it when he was?
SPEAKER_03It was when he went back for John Connor, and we are creeping up on that, and AI is now developing the next um evolution of AI on its own. I think like what they said, chat GBT4 developed chat GBT5, and oh, we're in trouble. But what are you gonna do? It's here to stay. I mean, unless everybody will turn off their device, you can't even get on Google without it being AI driven.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Our social media, everything. So it's AI driven.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And a little bit, um, that's a normal thing. Uh I used I use this example of um it's in it's an adjacent issue. There's always this narrative of kids these days, they're gonna destroy us all. Like, you know, and it's that thing of things constantly changing. And uh so an example of that is uh the I think it was the Viennese waltz. When that came out, oh, that was a scandal. It was a waltz, but it was the kids were doing it, and it was that is obscene what they were doing on that dance floor. Yeah, and that's an example, like it that that kind of thing has been going on forever, and it will continue to go on.
SPEAKER_03Well, my grandpa I remember him telling me I think it was doing Y2K, and uh, I was telling him, you know, here I was nervous and scared, you know, everybody had right, you know, what's gonna happen? Is everything gonna reset? And um, and I in fact, I remember going to a New Year's Eve party that night, and um my my ex-wife and I um we actually had uh go bags in the in the car. So when it hit midnight and everything shut off, we could get home. Car wouldn't run, we could get go home. But he told me, he said, you know how many um just end of the world scenarios I've lived through in my my life? You know, oh yeah, yeah. And he said, I'm not worried about it. It'll be fine. I do like that optimism, but I also don't think it's probably a bad idea to at least maybe be a little bit prepared or look at scenarios, but yeah, the doom and gloom thing. I mean, honestly, what going back to what I said about AI, what are we gonna do about it? Right. I mean, I don't know. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna stay involved locally in my community and do everything I can to make this the best place to live.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03And and I think you know, there's so many people out there that they they worry and they stir the pot and they you know all this stuff, but you know, what are they doing on a regular day basis to make their family better or their block better or their neighborhood better or the things that have influence on? Perpetually preparing for the end that never comes. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. You know, instead of living until the end comes.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, and try to make a positive difference in the world.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So what do you what do you think makes doing business in this region unique?
SPEAKER_03Uh, you know, I think the cultural issues and the rural aspect are two. So if we look at the the cultural issues um as an example, when we're dealing with hospice, so the Navajo population, a lot of Native American populations are like this, um, they don't want to talk about death. Right. And and death is taboo and it's something they don't want to talk about. So it makes it um very difficult to have those kinds of conversations with with that um group of people. Um and um, you know, making sure that we have services, it could still mean like we're getting raised to try to, we're working on uh through my nonprofit to open a hospice house. And this would be an opportunity for people who can't or don't want to die in their homes, which would be perfect for a Native American population. The rural aspect is huge because people live so far away from health care. You know, like we you said at the beginning, I I'm in Gallup and Grants, and you know, we're in all these areas, and a lot of people, it's hard to get good quality health
Rural Care And Navajo Cultural Barriers
SPEAKER_03care and making sure that they have some aspect of health care in their areas is is a huge aspect.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And even us providing care in that environment, you know, our clinicians, if they just provided care in Farmington, very little windshield time. You know, it's 10 minutes really from our office to almost anywhere in town. Yeah, but when they're going all the way out to Navajo Dam or they're going, you know, they, you know, Blanco, I mean, they've got 40, so delivering that care um it makes it more difficult. It yeah, you know, we spend, you know, those are that's time we could be seeing more patients, but those people need care.
SPEAKER_01So I think those are two of the the biggest aspects of doing business in this region for our two of the aspects that I often refer to when I'm trying to explain why this area is so different than pretty much everywhere else. Um, there are other reasons why it's different than everywhere else, because there are lots of rural communities all over the United States. When we start focusing these things together, there is nowhere else in the United States that has uh a Native American reservation as large and as populated as we do here. It's just the largest, and and it that affects things um in certain ways because that's a a group of people that um um are in various stages of integration or willingness to integrate with with um with say Western society, with you know, I don't know what you call it, but like in town living with the rest of us, they'd rather stay on the reservation and that sort of thing, and there are no road signs, there's no utilities, there's no things, and that's a massive population.
SPEAKER_03And our federal government doesn't always understand how that works. And a good example of this is when I was at Team RimCon, we did a flood response on the reservation. Yeah. And FEMA came out because they had applied for a disaster assistance grant. And they were going to get denied because when they they gave the information of the the structures that were damaged, they were like, they sound like they're uninhabitable from the very beginning. They're dirt floors. I mean, what are you talking about? So this contingency, this this forward team came out from FEMA, and we took them out and showed them you know some of these hogons and showed them you know how these people are living without electricity and and and bath external bathrooms and no running water. And you go in this beautiful Hogon that has a dirt floor, yeah, but it's immaculate, right? It's got rugs on the floor, and they got it's just a house. Right. And they come in and they were blown away. And my favorite part about that, sorry, by the way, they get that I believe they got the disaster assistance grant, which they really needed. But my favorite part was that after we we took them to a few of the residents and showed them these structures, we showed them some that were in great condition, some that had been damaged in the flood. Um, they're like, Okay, do you guys want to get dinner? And we're out way out in the deep res, right? And we're like, sure. And so we asked our friend who's an emergency manager for the Navajo Nation, like, where do we go get dinner? All right, you know, the closest place within 100 miles is this loafing jug or whatever it was, right? Yeah, we went to a convenience store, and the FEMA guys were like, This is the closest place. We're like, there's no grocery store, there's no services exactly like they were blown away. They came out from DC, right? They had no clue people lived like that in the United States. Right. And that's one of the things that I actually love about this area is that we're exposed to some just some amazing, unique things and aspects of that kind of life that other people don't ever get to see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, never been exposed to anything even close to that before.
SPEAKER_03Well, when we did that response, my veteran friends who had been in Afghanistan, yeah, they came over and we're out there doing this response on the res, and we're staying in chapter houses and things, and they said, This is the probably the closest I've ever been to being in an environment like we were in Afghanistan.
SPEAKER_01I never thought about it, but yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, true.
SPEAKER_01It was cool, yeah. Well, um, what advice would you give someone starting a business here? Well, don't go into this industry.
SPEAKER_03Um, and and I and I'm serious, it is a difficult industry to to be able to handle, and and there's a lot of other ways to to I think go in there. But I think you know, honestly, the biggest thing is, you know, look at look at the services that you want to provide and um go talk to the small business um development center up at Salwan College. Yeah. Um, so many great resources up there. They can help you build a business plan.
SPEAKER_00And it's free.
SPEAKER_03It's free. And the Four Corners Economic Development, we can help you look and see if there's money available through state grants through their for their economic development um group that maybe can help you with hiring and training employees or infrastructure, all those different aspects. And then be patient. You know, I think um for anybody who's starting a business, you need to realize you're probably gonna need several months, if not longer, of some sort of capital while you're getting things going and and and trying to build things up. And I think that's you know, working with the chamber and foresaid,
Advice For Local Business Builders
SPEAKER_03four-quarters economic development, one of the things that we'll see with a lot of businesses maybe do not make it through that's one of their biggest issues is underestimating the amount of time it takes to be able to develop things to get things going. But I'll tell you, that college, we're lucky it's here in that small business development center. You know, they can connect you with um you know grants, loans, I mean, so many different resources. They give you tax help, um, how to structure your business. Is it LLC best? Is it best BNS Corp or C Corp? You know, those different aspects. So I think that is so. I guess to kind of put that in a nutshell, you know, when I started Royal Rescue, I kind of just started my own and learned a lot of lessons when I was doing it. I wish I could have had that resource, it would have helped me tremendously building it up. Exactly. You know, how to build invoices, you know, you know, just this simple things. I was working with a new business owner actually last week, and and they had done work, but it's all been for cash, and they need to develop an invoice for work they did for me. Yeah, I had to help them build an invoice. Yeah, but I don't mind doing that, and but there's so many things to learn that I think are are important, and then the last piece for any business owner get involved with the chamber and organizations like that and go to the networking events, yeah. Meet people, interact, network, build those relationships. Um, I I think you know the networking piece, and I said it earlier, and those relationships is probably one of the most important things for people. Go out and tell your story, let people get to know you. And I hope that people in this community continue to focus on the fact that Amazon is not on the back of our kids' sports jerseys. Right. You know, you don't see Walmart on the back of your kids' sports jersey. That is a brilliant way to put it. You know what you see? You see the local downtown businesses who are still trying to make their um payroll for the you know, they gotta sell just you know two more dinners to be able to make payroll. Go support those businesses. Absolutely. Support these new businesses, help them be successful, you know, spread the word. But it's so easy to get on our phone and order something from Amazon and it's delivered at our door, but you can get that same thing probably at a business here if you just take a few minutes and you get to meet your friends and neighbors. Yeah, yeah, get out.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Yeah, that's a great way to put that the whole back of the sports jersey.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it drives me crazy. Yeah, it drives me crazy. And I know that Amazon is hiring people, and I know that Walmart is, and they're hiring locally, but yeah, but it's not gonna hurt that business not to give them your business. Definitely is not. No, they're their profit margins compared to these local businesses are they're blowing them out of the water. Yeah, you know, absolutely. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, are there local businesses here that that you admire?
SPEAKER_03Oh, absolutely. Um, you know, and and all different aspects of what they do, you know. I I I've worked uh I haven't worked with PESCO from a business sense, but I've worked with them through Forecorn's Economic Development. Um, the work they do, their mindset, the growth, just very innovative. Um, Marion Oil is another one. I really, you know, the work that the Marions have done, they're a multi-generational business, which I love that. Yeah, um, Cooper Fire is another one, you know, Cy Cooper. Um, and then seeing IRIC and Chantel come in there and take it to the next level. Yeah. Um, um, yeah, there's a lot, and you know, even some of the smaller businesses, you know what Monica's doing down here downtown at Chili Pot. Oh, right. Amazing stuff. Yeah. I mean, she is and she's flexing a little bit, her expansion. I mean, everything she did, she's taking a gamble and it's paying off. And so, yeah, there's a lot of them out here. That's awesome. Yeah. All levels.
SPEAKER_01So as we wrap up here, um what do you looking ahead, like say the next year or two, what what would success really look like for this business?
SPEAKER_03Well, um our growth um is dependent upon numbers. So I think continuing to expand our our senses and to be able to grow our senses and and and make it in a manageable way so we can hire staff to control that. That's that's a huge piece. Um, and that just takes working with the referral sources. But I think our new business lines, the palliative care, um, that's going to be huge. And it's going to be something that really some people say they provide palliative care in this community, but this is a totally different model. And it's chronic symptom management using physicians and nurse practitioners to go see the patient in their home and and to take care of them and and to see that successfully um take off, I think. So those two aspects I think would be success for me. Um and not and not to put our employees and their jobs in jeopardy. I mean, that's that's the biggest thing. Continue to to withstand the the scrutiny that might come down from, you know, s some of the the fraud that's occurred in this country and making sure that um industries are doing things right and they're they're they're the good players, that they're able to s to continue to provide services and don't get added stress and and Issues and problems from the the whatever's gonna be in the future. We don't know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_01Well, man, I appreciate it. I've got one last fun thing to do, but um um I always appreciate chatting with you, man. You got good thoughts on a lot of different aspects, not just business, but you know, just there's a lot going on in this this this head of mine, Ken.
SPEAKER_03You don't even want to open the door to some of those areas.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So this one, we're we're gonna do a lightning round. So just first thing that comes off the top of your head favorite local restaurant. Either chili pot or boons. Okay. Best business advice you've received.
SPEAKER_03Join your local associations. So chamber associations, whatever it might be.
SPEAKER_01And then one thing customers might not know about your business.
SPEAKER_03That we work in everybody's homes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. That I think they they they don't understand how home health works. And and I would just say there's a little bit of a longer answer there. I think people feel like that home health care is going to basically be a nursing home in their home. And that's not the way it works. So I think there's a lot of misunderstanding, and
Lightning Round And Closing
SPEAKER_03it's probably better to learn about that before you need the services than when you do need the services and you're scrambling and trying to figure out what to do. Yeah, because then you're right in the middle of a stressful situation. You know, I said we're the largest private employer in town. I believe still, 800 employees, and people don't even know it because we are working in people's homes. Absolutely we don't have a big factory. Yeah. But we have 800 people around this region every day taking care of people, keeping them out of the hospital.
SPEAKER_01Well, I appreciate you, man. I appreciate you everything you do here and and everything. Yeah, you too, Kim.
SPEAKER_03Thanks for doing this. It's been fun, as always.
SPEAKER_01Perfect. Thanks for coming on the show.
