Our email newsletter, sent out monthly, is full of relevant information on home health care, in home care, personal care, and companion care. We also communicate and share information about local events on topics such as Dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s Disease.

We’re proud of the care we provide here at ComForCare Grand Rapids. We go the extra mile when for our clients, and want to share a couple of stories that illustrate what we do. We’ve changed the client names to protect our client’s privacy.

Retired Physician Credits ComForCare Grand Rapids with Saving His Life—written by Owner Bill McIntyre

Fred is a retired physician here in West Michigan. He was two weeks post-surgery from an organ transplant when we were brought in by his daughter to assist with med reminders and some meal prep. On the Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend I was driving to Menard’s with my wife and foster son when I received a call from our caregiver.

"Um, I’m here at Fred’s and he isn’t here." Said the caregiver. "I’ve looked upstairs and downstairs and I can’t find him anywhere."

I knew Fred’s daughter had been in town the day before, so I called her.

"Joanne, this is Bill from ComForCare. I just got a call from our caregiver and she tells me your father isn’t there. I wanted to check in with you to see if you had come into town, and if he is with you?" I asked.

With panic in her voice, Joanne answered "No. What is going on?" I explained the situation to her and told her I would visit her father’s house personality. Once I knew what was going on I would give her a call.

About 15 minutes later I arrived on-site with my family in tow. I rushed inside and searched the house to find the same results—that Fred was nowhere to be found. My wife, caregiver, and foster son went out the garage door towards their barn. I went down into the basement and out the back door. As I was coming up the hill, I saw Fred laying on the lawn in his pajamas. I yelled out to my wife and our caregiver that I had found him. I feared the worst as I approached him.

"Fred, what are you doing?" I asked. I breathed a sigh of relief when his eyes popped open.

"My wife is in the house." He replied. Fred’s wife had not been around for several years, so I knew he was a bit delusional. Just then the caregiver and my wife arrived.

"Stay with him." I instructed the caregiver. "I’m going inside to call 911."

I ran inside and dialed 911. While I was on the phone with 911, my cell phone rang. It was Fred’s daughter Joanne. She was worried and couldn’t wait anymore. I handed the phone to my wife and told her to give Joanne an update, and to tell her I would be on the phone just as soon as I was off the phone with 911.

To fast forward to the happy ending, Fred survived. An ambulance and paramedics came and he was brought to the hospital. I stayed on the phone with Joanne until her sister arrived, and stayed at the house until after Fred had left in the ambulance.

Months later my business partner Mike was interviewing an RN. It turns out the RN knew Fred, and Fred had told the RN that ComForCare had saved his life.

ComForCare Grand Rapids Moves Quickly to Assist Client in Rockford, Michigan

(written by owner Bill McIntyre)

On Friday, November 3rd, Michael and I were in Phoenix, Arizona, for our first ComForCare Owner’s Conference. We were excited to meet other owners from around the country, do some networking, and learn best practice techniques. At about 2:30 in the afternoon, which was 5:30 back in Michigan, Mike got a text from one of our caregivers.

Our caregiver was at a client’s home working a Noon to 6:00 shift when the husband of our client passed out. She had called the ambulance, which had taken him to a local ER. We had been working with this family for a few months and knew their family dynamics pretty well. This client has advanced dementia and could not be left alone. We knew that the client’s children would want to be at the hospital with their dad. In the past we had provided services 24/7 for this client, and we were anticipating the possibility that they might need 24/7 services again while her husband was in the hospital. Mike and I excused ourselves from the training session we were in and went back to our room. Mike went to work on the scheduling piece, and I reached out to the client’s daughter to find out how her dad was, and to see if they would need us to provide services for a few days. The client’s daughter didn’t answer her phone, so I left voicemail message. While I waited for her to return my call, I joined Mike in texting & calling caregivers to check their availability and see who would be able to work.

The client’s daughter called back about 30 minutes later, and we were able to tell her we already had 24/7 care lined up through Saturday if they needed us. She thanked us for taking the initiative and said she wanted to check in with her brother and sister. About 10 minutes later, she called back to say go ahead and schedule services until Monday morning, and to see if we could touch base on Sunday evening to see if they needed services past Monday morning. We agreed. One of the reasons that this family remains our client to this day is because of how proactive we were. Within minutes of their dad being brought to the hospital, we as owners reached out to the family to see how we could help, and within 90 minutes we had 24/7 services scheduled. Our family of caregivers pulled together so that their mom was never left alone until their Dad was through recovery and ready to assist with her care again.

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Whether your loved one needs assistance only a few hours a week or around-the-clock, our team is happy to help! Call (616) 285-7000 to learn more about the transition care services offered through ComForCare Home Care (Grand Rapids, MI).