2009 Economic Impact Awards, Home Health Care Honoree: Integrity Home Care

It's a celebratory year for Springfield-based Integrity Home Care, which is marking its 10th year in business and posting another year of record growth.

"We are currently having our best year ever, hands down," says Phil Melugin, president, chief operating officer and co-owner of Integrity with Greg Horton and Paul Reinert.

Integrity posted 2008 companywide revenues of $40 million, Melugin said, up 18 percent compared to 2007. Locally, revenues in the Springfield area reached $11.56 million, up 13 percent from 2007.

The company, which has 10 offices throughout Missouri and Kansas, recently opened new locations in Osage Beach and Kansas City, Kan. A growing need for home health care led to the expansion, according to Melugin.

"In every market we continue to claim a substantial share of the market," Melugin says. "It's a combination of the culture of our leadership team within our office and exceptional work that our care-giving and clinical staff do."

Integrity's basic services include nursing care and personal care assistance; physical, occupational and speech therapies; respite care; and telemonitoring and emergency monitoring services. The company also offers private-duty, private-pay services such as transportation and shopping.

Integrity cites high-quality employees as a key element of its success. According to Gwen Beebe, executive director of business development for Integrity Home Care, personal home care aides and home health aides are among the fastest-growing occupations, and Integrity has plenty of opportunities to put those individuals to work. Integrity delivered an average of 121,508 hours of service per week in 2007 and 131,670 hours of services per week in 2008, helping more than 4,000 clients.

"We developed a screening process that targets on caring and compassionate individuals," Melugin says. "Once we identify those individuals, then part of that package usually is an individual who truly does care about other people and is a good person. We tell everybody right up front that Integrity is a value-based company that finds its general principals in Judeo-Christian philosophy."

The company's efforts have garnered attention from others in the community.

"Integrity's impact on economic development in our community has been critical," says Richard Ollis, president of Ollis & Co., which has a vendor relationship with Integrity. "This locally owned and operated company employs thousands and recently purchased and totally renovated their headquarters at highways 65 and 44."

With a $3.3 million investment, Integrity purchased the former ProCycle building and will relocate its headquarters there this summer following extensive renovations.

The 35,000-square-foot building at 2960 N. Eastgate Ave. will more than double the company's former 16,000-square-foot headquarters in leased space at 4247 S. Glenstone Ave. The new headquarters will house about 100 employees and support Integrity's four other Missouri offices that together employ about 2,000 people, including 602 in Springfield.

"They approach their business with the care of their clients and staff as their top priority," notes the company's banker, Russ Marquart, president and CEO of Empire Bank. "They are an efficient source of health care and provide cost-effective solutions for patients (and) their families and (for) insurance (and) government entities responsible for providing health coverage."[[In-content Ad]]