1-5 Years in Operation Winner: Phoenix Home Care Inc.

The phoenix continues to spread its wings. In its first two years, Phoenix Home Care Inc. has grown into a company that provides 20,000 hours a week of in-home health care in nearly 1,200 homes. That’s double the amount of homes the company visited during its first year in 2011, when Phoenix provided 13,000 hours of weekly care at 600 homes.

“It’s been an explosion of service, and we have been well received in the communities we serve and we’ve identified needs and how we can meet those needs, so consequently, those communities we’re serving in have embraced what we have to offer,” says Phil Melugin, the company’s president and co-owner.

Phoenix Home Care operates Missouri locations in Springfield, Kansas City, Columbia, St. Louis, Cape Giradeau and it’s newest location opened this May in Branson.

With a recently completed expansion into Wichita, Kan., complete, Melugin says the company has its sights set on continued growth, noting the company is laying the groundwork to open two additional locations: one in the southwest Colorado area and another in Missouri.

Along with a growing employee and customer base, revenues are also on the rise. Phoenix Home Care realized a 44 percent increase in 2012. compared to 2011.

“Last year we annualized at $16 million. Now, we’re annualizing at $23 million so we have grown exceptionally,” Melugin says.

In addition to its elderly clients, Phoenix Home Care also provides services to special needs children and acutely and chronically ill adults and seniors. Melugin says the company’s goal is to postpone or eliminate the need to move into skilled or assisted living facilities.

“We are expanding several of our acute services to several traditional communities. The services for chronic individuals and services provided for individuals with acute conditions that are more clinical in nature are included,” he says.

Melugin says Phoenix Home Care strives to reduce the number of calls and visits to doctors and limit the number of hospital admissions and readmissions for its clients. The company also educates and works with its clients and employees on wellness, nutrition and prevention tips to promote healthier lifestyles.

Other services include private day nursing and privately paid services, which can be broken into eight, 12 or 24 hour shifts.

“I think that we are providing for Springfield an alternate to hospital-based system care [as] an independent. That’s not to say that the hospital companies are not quality providers, because they are. We just simply provide as the premier independent. We are blessed to have that distinction,” Melugin says.

Phoenix Home Care also supports the Springfield community by keeping the majority of its dollars local, utilizing locally owned and operated vendors, such as Moseley’s Discount Office Products and A Plus Payroll.

Melugin says Phoenix Home Care also frequently works with the Alzheimer’s Association and employees participate in numerous charitable activities around the area.

The crew at Phoenix Home Care also take time for fun. During a recent competition between the Springfield and Wichita offices, Melugin jumped into a lake in support of rising sales.

“If Wichita was able to have a higher census of clients on service for a four-week period, I had to jump in a lake. Since I lost, I had to take the dive,” he says.

Fun and games aside, Melugin says Phoenix Home Care isn’t distracted from its primary focus.

“[Our goal] is to achieve our potential. We aren’t completely certain what that potential is, but I can frame it in this way – we fully intend to be the regional independent provider in the states that we are currently providing services in,” he says. “We don’t see at this time a national movement, but what we do see is a very strong and premier regional presence and we want to achieve our potential within that overall scope of service.”[[In-content Ad]]