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FirstLight celebrates second annual national conference

From our Care Blog

What a great three days with our FirstLight Home Care owners at our second National Conference last week! Truly extraordinary people who are providing exceptional care and to whom I am very proud to say I am on their team. We welcomed 65 franchisees, employees and caregivers to the event at The Ritz-Carlton in downtown Atlanta, Ga. The three day event incorporated panels and roundtable sessions on best tips and practices of successful networking, effective management, administration and training techniques, plus focus groups for recruiting, advertising, social media and care coordination. Special presentations from industry experts and guest speakers were...

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FirstLight Home Care of Contra Costa Receives Home Care Pulse Certification

From our Care Blog

We’re excited to announce that our location in Walnut Creek, California, has received its Home Care Pulse Certification, a certification program dedicated to the measurement of client and employee satisfaction scores. Home Care Pulse created the certification program to measure key satisfaction aspects of its in-home care delivery as well as the level of satisfaction of the caregiving staff. This certification requires an agency to be reviewed monthly and includes the evaluation of areas such as loyalty, benchmarking improvements, client and employee interviews, caregiver performance, caregiver morale, agency incentives and caregiver rewards to name a few. Local franchisee David Bonacci...

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FirstLight Home Care scores high on franchisee satisfaction surveys

From our Care Blog

Great news to share as we cap off another week here at FirstLight! We’ve been ranked #22 on Franchise Business Review’s list of the Top 50 franchise systems that rank highest in franchisee satisfaction. We are the youngest franchise system EVER to make the Top 50 rankings so this is a huge milestone for the company! The rankings are based on a survey that asked franchisees questions related to training and support, system communication, franchisor/franchisee relations, financial opportunity, business lifestyle, and overall satisfaction with their business. Ninety-three percent of FirstLight’s franchisees participated in the Franchise Business Review satisfaction survey. The...

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Former FirstLight executive opens own location in North Dallas

From our Care Blog

Our former director of business development and team support, Kevin Stewart, recently retired from his position to open a FirstLight location in Richardson, Tx. Stewart has spent the past two years working with us at the corporate level, helping to build this company from the ground up. A certified franchise executive (CFE) with a career in the franchising industry that spans over 25 years, Stewart is an immeasurable asset to FirstLight and has contributed substantially to the success and growth of the brand and our franchisees. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, Stewart will have the opportunity...

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Do Caregivers Deserve Overtime? We Think So.

From our Care Blog

Many people, including the elderly, caregivers and home care agencies, are wondering how the Dept. of Labor’s proposed changes to the companionship and live-in worker regulations will affect the in-home care industry. In 1974, these regulations originally created a limited exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay requirements to domestic service workers (i.e. casual babysitters, home companions, maids/home help). Although the regulations have gone unchanged, the in-home care industry has changed dramatically and grown substantially. Yet, the earnings of in-home care employees remain among the lowest in the service industry—the caregivers that are now employed by in-home care agencies...

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Ohio franchisees awarded Best of Home Care

From our Care Blog

Congratulations to Ohio owners John and Jane Moyer on recently achieving the Best of Home Care award which is distributed by Home Care Pulse, a third party provider of client and caregiver satisfaction services to private duty home care agencies. The award is given to the top performers in client satisfaction and demonstrates FirstLight’s ability to provide quality care. The Moyers are the first franchisees to be awarded. Great work, to both!

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Happy New Year and welcome to 2012!

From our Care Blog

Happy New Year! It’s amazing that we’re already through the first week of 2012. Good news to share as we kick off the New Year: Tammy Iuso, recent Franchisee of the Year and owner of FirstLight in Orlando has earned Joint Commission Accreditation. This is quite an accomplishment in the home care industry and Orlando is our first location to earn this accreditation. The Joint Commission is an independent, non-profit organization that accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. This is widely recognized as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s...

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FirstLight expands in New Jersey

From our Care Blog

We’re excited to introduce our newest franchisee, Eileen Appelblatt, to the Western Monmouth County communities in New Jersey. Eileen, along with her son Jeff, is looking forward to providing top-notch professional, home care services to local seniors and others in her area. Eileen spent over 30 years working as a client relationship manager at a New York brokerage firm before pursuing the home care industry. With her extensive experience working on a personal level with a variety of clients, we know she’ll excel in her new venture with FirstLight. This is our first location in the state and we're excited...

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FirstLight Celebrates Success With First Annual Conference

From our Care Blog

Our first annual national conference last week was a huge success! A sincere thank you to each and every franchisee, employee and caregiver who made it to the conference at Big Cedar Resort—I firmly believe we have the best team in the industry. The three day event incorporated panels and roundtable sessions on best tips and practices of successful networking, effective management, administration and training techniques, plus focus groups for recruiting, advertising, social media and care coordination. Special presentations from industry experts and guest speakers were also heard. The event gave me the opportunity to bestow top franchisees and caregivers...

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What is a PERS?

From our Care Blog

FirstLight franchisee, Michael LaVell, of Clarkston, Mich. discussed the benefits of a personal emergency response system (PERS) with The Eldercompass Blog earlier this week. Here are a few facts to get started: Approximately 12 million individuals currently receive home care from over 33,000 providers in the United States according to the National Association for Home Care and Hospice. As many of our nation’s elderly opt to remain in their home as they age, extra measures need to be taken to ensure their safety and independence. Part of maintaining autonomy is being prepared for unforeseen accidents or emergencies that may occur....

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