2020 Health Care Champions Administrator: Gwen Beebe

Gwen Beebe doesn’t wear a cape, but she’s identified her superpower: tenacity.

“I simply don’t give up, and my heart and soul is embedded to a holistic mindset that values the perspective of collaborative contribution of each stakeholder to achieve a higher quality of life,” says Beebe, vice president of operations and business development at Phoenix Home Care and Hospice.

She has spent 41 years in health care, almost half of them in home health. “My role in the overall picture of health care in the Ozarks is to improve quality of life through an extension of health care services to those who wish to receive services in the comfort of their home. I strive towards having a lasting impact on improving our systems that impact our communities with resilience, fortitude and mental strength,” Beebe says.

She oversees operations for 19 locations in four states, balancing patient care and employee engagement.

“I am a champion of patient experience,” Beebe says. “As an integral component of health care quality, patient experience includes several aspects of health care delivery that patients value highly when they seek and receive care, such as having a caring, skilled clinician or caregiver, easy access to information and good communication with health care providers.”

The care that Beebe directs at Phoenix affects other aspects of health care. “It serves the economy of the Ozarks well by reducing the number of readmissions, postponing or eliminating the need to move into skilled nursing facilities – where there is a greater cost to the state – and reducing unnecessary visits to their physician, all the while promoting a lifestyle of independence and enhancing quality of life,” she says.

As with many people working in health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, Beebe quickly responded to provide relevant support to employees and patients.

“Right out of the gates, our company developed a COVID-19 Task Force,” she says. “We gathered daily and remotely, sometimes late into the night, weeding through Centers for Disease Control [and Prevention] data and requirements that changed daily. The normal flow of business changed, but we were open for business each and every day. My specific role on the task force was to look at each and every concern my employees were faced with and provide answers and direction.”

She juggled worried employees, nervous patients and the challenge of not being allowed into care facilities due to the virus. And at night, she sewed hundreds of masks – not because she had to but because she wanted to have a variety available for staff.

“Maintaining employee positivity has been essential to consistently maintain exceptional care to our clients,” Beebe says.

She leads Phoenix’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors program that educates people about employment opportunities, and last year she spearheaded the introduction to CareAcademy, a virtual, state-approved training program for senior care that supplements Phoenix’s hands-on curriculum.

“My responsibility is to see that quality services are coordinated,” Beebe says. “My motivator are those who depend on me each and every day, my employees and our patients. I want employees to know that I understand that they need to be recognized and appreciated for what they do."