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Kim and Phil Melugin, owners
Kim and Phil Melugin, owners

2014 Economic Impact Awards 1-5 Years in Operation Finalist: Phoenix Home Health Care Inc.

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As Springfield evolves into a regional health care destination, the Queen City’s two major health care providers – CoxHealth and Mercy Springfield Communities – care for more patients then ever before.

However, some patients need extra, in-home care outside the hospital setting.

Enter Phoenix Home Health Care Inc.

The locally-based company has risen up to meet the specialized needs of patients. Joining nearly a dozen other Springfield-area home health providers after splitting from market leader Integrity Home Care Inc. in 2011, Phoenix immediately established itself as a front-runner in the home health race thanks to rapid expansion that included two major regional acquisitions.

“What was lacking in our market was a very strong independent provider with the capacity to fill in the gaps for services that were not being provided to certain individuals,” says Phoenix President Phil Melugin. “They are potentially Medicaid, or private payer, or difficult [medical] cases that were better suited for a quality independent agent to meet their needs.”

Half of Phoenix’s revenue comes from Medicaid patients, with the remaining half split evenly between private payer and Medicare payments.

Melugin has found those unique needs are all-too-common, extending far beyond the boundaries of the Ozarks, as evidenced by the two 2013 acquisitions of Jefferson City’s Homemaker Health Care Inc. and Montrose, Colo.-based Cimarron Home Care LLC. And while the company has grown by leaps and bounds in just 36 months of existence  Melugin says it is careful not to let growth come at the expense of the individualized service.

“We are much more agile, more flexible,” he says of the competition. “We’re able to conform to unique needs quicker, faster, better than those other, bigger systems. We understand that, and that’s why there’s a niche for us.”

That niche is not only wide, but deep. After posting first-year revenues of $10.4 million in 2011, Phoenix more than doubled that figure in 2012 to $22 million and extended the run last year, adding 53 percent to push total company revenue to $35 million in 2013, $10 million of that locally.

Providing nearly 80,000 patient visits each month requires a committed staff, which has likewise grown exponentially. From an initial group of 14 that formed Phoenix, the employee count has ballooned to more than 1,600 in 11 offices spread across Missouri, Kansas and into Colorado. That number could continue to grow as the company works toward two additional acquisitions in Kansas.

Combined, the Phoenix staff now delivers more than 118,600 hours of care each month.

Beyond steady jobs, Melugin says the Phoenix focus on employee compensation and job benefits is what sets it apart and carries the broadest economic impact.

“It’s a priority,” he says, noting the home care industry trends have seen reduced benefits and hours at most companies. “We are very conservative about the other expenses associated with our company, so that we can provide full benefits to our employees.

“It’s how we attract what we believe are the best and brightest in the business.”[[In-content Ad]]

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