Montano.
A national home-care chain with over 400 locations across the U.S. and Canada, the Miami branch of Visiting Angels Living Assistance Services has just celebrated its seventh year in business under the ownership and direction of business partners Anthony Acevedo and Mirian Montano. Although Montano’s family worked in the home health care profession and she worked as a senior companion while attending college, both she and Acevedo come primarily from the retail industry.
The unique perspective into home care that their previous jobs gave them delivered benefits almost immediately.
“When we first called our competitors around Miami, we found customer service was not emphasized in this very personal business,” says Acevedo. “All things being equal, most clients want an organization that they can communicate with and delivers the services promised.”
These refreshing insights, as well as an emphasis on upholding the highest standards of healthcare, have allowed Visiting Angels to continue to provide much needed help for seven years.
Visiting Angels is essentially a Florida licensed nurse registry. They use only experienced caregivers and their filtering process is thorough. Hiring only nurses with two or more years experience in the homecare field,Visiting Angels also uses a private background screening company to sort through the applicants that remain following an initial FBI fingerprinting process. All of these safeguards ensure that when one of their nurses arrives at a client’s door they have gone through a rigorous procedure that ensures both quality and trustworthiness.
“We pay our caregivers a good wage and look for those who have the compassion to care for our clients,” says Acevedo.
Midway through last year, the company signed with Home Care Pulse, a national quality management company that specializes in increasing client and caregiver satisfaction in the homecare field. Six months later, they were awarded the Best of Homecare award for 2012 for registering among the highest in six separate categories of excellence.
“This was an affirmation of six years of consistently focusing on great customer service,” says Acevedo. “We take the feedback of our clients and caregivers very seriously and use it to create the best services in our area.”
The benefits of choosing in-home care over that received in a nursing home extend beyond merely domestic comforts and increased privacy. Keeping a loved one in their home generally costs less, and it can extend their lives.
“The simple fact is that most people live longer if they are at home,” says Acevedo. “Studies have shown that if our seniors remain in familiar, safe surroundings, they have a better quality of life and experience extended longevity.”
Regardless of what decision a family makes regarding their eldest members, Acevedo and Montano both believe that the top priority should be placed on the well being of senior citizens.
“We have a societal obligation to care for our elderly,” he says.
Visiting Angels of Miami is located at 9990 SW 77th Ave., Suite 328.
For more information, call 305-728-3153 or go to www.visitingangels.com/miami
