2017 Health Care Champions Administrator: Amy Ford

SBJ photo by Wes Hamilton

Resume Highlights

• Associate degree in nursing, Cox College

• One year as emergency room nurse at Mercy Hospital Springfield

• Six years as administrator, nurse and case manager at Hospice Compassus

While she’s no longer directly involved with patient care, Amy Ford does everything in her power to make sure Integrity Home Care Inc.’s customers are treated with respect and compassion.

A registered nurse, Ford serves as vice president of Integrity Home Care’s home health and hospice operations. She believes in leading by example and holds her staff to her own standards.

“While, in my current role, I do not always have the opportunity to be involved in the direct care of the patients we serve, I do understand the impact I have in making the environment for which our staff work is one which motivates them to provide the same level of service I held myself accountable for when I was the one responsible for direct patient care,” she says. “If I can make a difference for those I lead, I know that will have positive impacts on the patients they care for day in and day out.

“My role in the overall picture of health care in the Ozarks is to always push for quality of care and ensure patient advocacy is evident in all we do.”

In her role, Ford focuses on patients who are receiving post-acute care at their homes. Keeping them in their homes is the primary goal.

Ford recognizes families and patients are trusting Integrity Home Care during their most vulnerable moments.

“Our primary focus is on getting patients back to their baseline, making them as independent as possible and allowing them to remain in their home for as long as possible,” she says. “At times, we hear from patients that their functional level and qualify of life is greater than it was prior to the event which required home health care to begin with.”

Integrity Home Care co-owner and CEO Greg Horton credits Ford with building a dedicated team of clinicians and care providers. He knows her well, too, given in 2014, he survived a company plane crash with Ford and other team members near Evangel University en route to Springfield’s Downtown Airport from Lee’s Summit.

“As a nurse, Amy is dedicated to ensuring that the quality of our care is delivered in an exceptional manner,” Horton says. “As an administrator, Amy has dedicated herself to making sure that her clinicians and support team have everything they need to be successful, keeping them up to date on relentless changes in regulations and standards of care.

“Her exemplary work in care navigation – the process of walking patients and families through the maze of options available in our health care system – has been a lifesaver to countless individuals in our community.”

Ford, who earned her associate degree in nursing from Cox College, started working with Integrity Home Care in 2014, rising to her current role in August 2016.

She helped the company transition into the Kansas City market, and with that move, clear up a Medicare issue with Omega Health Care, a company Integrity Home Care acquired.

“With much hard work and dedication, we were able to overcome all obstacles which stood in our way and were able to prove we deserved to be a provider in this market,” Ford says, noting when a follow-up was conducted in May 2015, the company was able to clear all of the deficiencies, which she said is rare because of the industry’s strict regulatory environment.