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Homecare Service Celebrates Decade Of Success

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By PAUL CATALA pcatala@mediageneral.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 28, 2009

At 86, Janet Olewine was getting along in her Kings Point home of 22 years, cooking, cleaning and taking care of herself.

When her daughter in Ruskin set her up with service from a Sun City Center in-home assisted living provider, she was skeptical if she really needed the extra help and services.

Two weeks later, Olewine, who has been a widow since 1994, said she couldn't be more pleased with the help she's gotten through one of the first assisted living businesses in Sun City Center - Hanson Services Inc.

Celebrating 10 years in the area, Hanson is a personal care services provider in the homes of older adults in northeast Ohio and on both coasts of Florida. The company helps plan meals, shop; do housekeeping, laundry; help with bathing, grooming and hygiene; provides companionship; drives clients; and helps with pet and plant care. Clients receive the assistance as part of their long-term care health insurance.

The Sun City Center Hanson office, 1601 Rickenbacker Dr., is led by administrator Georgana Collins, a licensed nurse practitioner. An LPN for 37 years, she coordinates about 30 to 50 caregivers - LPNs, certified nursing assistants and registered nurses - who work on a contract basis. She also oversees the staff of four-person, full-time staff in one of four of Hanson's Florida offices.

Collins, an Apollo Beach resident who has worked 12 years in assisted living and for Hanson for about six years, said the homecare industry has changed drastically since she began working in it in the late 1970s. She said having clients stay in their homes is a benefit to them and their families.

"I spent the first six years encouraging people to move into an assisted living facility. I've spent the past six years telling them to keep them at home," she said. "It's a 'win-win' for the family. Family members often feel obligated to be at the home when they're (clients) at home. This takes a big work load off and they can spend more with their families."

Caregivers with Hanson Services work with long-term care clients, such as Olewine, anywhere from four to 24 hours a day. Prior to providing services, a geriatric care coordinator meets with the client and his or her family to determine what services are needed and how they will be performed.

Collins said although set schedules are made, Hanson caregivers and staff often make exceptions to them and will visit clients at different hours and a day, which makes depending on them more secure, said one of their customers.

"They're absolutely wonderful; they make the impossible, possible," said Olewine, who moved to Sun City Center from State College, Pa., in 1987. "They do things they don't have to.

Collins said it's not unusual for staff to have to make special calls at off hours of the day. Roni Skrivanie, a certified nursing assistant and claims adjustor for Sun City Center Hanson Services, said it's that kind of effort that has garnered the senior care business acclaim.

For services, clients pay Hanson between $18 and $21 an hour, from two to 24 hours a day.

In 2003, Hanson Services Inc. was named eighth of the top 100 fastest growing companies in northeast Ohio by Case Western Reserve University"s Weatherhead School of Management

"We get involved with our clients and do our best for them," said Skrivanie. "We also keep them in contact with out-of-state relatives."

In Ohio and Florida, Hanson has more than 300 geriatric resident assistants trained in working with senior citizens and is insured, bonded and covered for workers compensation.

In addition to Hanson, there are four other private assisted living providers in Sun City Center, with about seven home-based businesses.

Reporter Paul Catala can be reached at (813) 865-1554 or pcatala@mediageneral.com.

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