Carl Gregory Santoro is a healthcare influencer and the founder of Compassionate Assistance. Compassionate Assistance is a family-owned and non-medical home care provider. On the back of an innovative approach, Compassionate Assistance offers personalized, high-quality care to those that need it most. With over a decade’s worth of experience in the healthcare field, Carl’s track record speaks for itself.
Having obtained his MBA while opening an office in Arizona, Carl has demonstrated his technical business ability and capacity to use this knowledge to develop practical, lucrative solutions as an aged care provider.
Carl was able to answer a few of our questions regarding his business, his background and the ongoing trends of the healthcare sector in the United States.
Carl, were there any important events or people in your early life that reinforced your motivation to move into the healthcare industry?
Growing up I was a caregiver for my younger brother who has Downs Syndrome. This has motivated me to move into the Healthcare Industry. Our primary focus at Compassionate Assistance is to raise the bar in Healthcare. We do so by being able to provide the highest quality, compassionate in-home personal care to families with loved ones that are chronically ill, disabled, or aging seniors. My family will always be my daily motivation. Healthcare is a large growing industry because people will always need care and most importantly, want to live a happy life. We are here to help.
Do you think your tertiary qualifications helped you the most in building this career, or was it practical experience that brought you this far?
Obtaining my MBA has helped with several internal and external aspects of business. These experiences have brought me to this point in my career. However, growing up and being a caregiver for my brother taught me a lot about what it means to provide the highest quality of care. Every day, I am faced with different challenges, however, I continue to learn and make an impact on the individuals around me.
What makes Compassionate Assistance unique and more reliable compared to other care providers?
Our mission at Compassionate Assistance is to enable individuals to live independently and with dignity in their own home. We strive to do so by elevating the standard of in-home senior care to improve the long-term health, safety and happiness of individuals. What makes Compassionate Assistance unique and more reliable is the staff we hire. Our team consists of Certified Nursing Assistants to Registered Nurses to provide top level of care to our patients.
By investing in the top technology for healthcare, it is beneficial for Compassionate Assistance employees to stay up to date. Caregivers arrive at a patient’s shift feeling prepared. Knowing critical details about the shift and specific client needs are very important. With Compassionate Assistance’s mobile app, caregivers can log in from anywhere to access driving directions via Google Maps and daily, weekly, or monthly shift details.
How does Compassionate Assistance improve the lives of elderly people daily?
Care is provided on an hourly, daily or temporary respite basis. We support basic activities of daily living and more advanced care. We help with the transition from hospital or rehab facility to home. We can also provide care for specialised conditions such as stroke or Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, our services are greatly valued by the relatives of those in need of care. Knowing their loved ones are being taken care of by a trained and compassionate caregiver is invaluable peace of mind.
What are some of the ongoing daily challenges that your business faces?
Affordability of care is a daily on-going challenge we face. Our services are all private pay. This daily challenge affects the families and patients we can help and service. Unfortunately, Medicare does not cover in-home care services. We are hoping for this to change in the future, as this would allow us to service more patients, particularly those with lower incomes.
In your opinion, which personal qualities are the most important for someone trying to develop a successful career in the aged care sector?
Passion and purpose are the most important qualities for someone trying to develop a successful career in the aged care sector. If you are not a passionate person in this industry, you will not succeed. Passion is required when you are dealing with human lives. The work can be incredibly difficult and time-consuming. There will be times where you question your abilities. Having that passion drives people (like our employees) to move forward.
You must also have the right purpose. The purpose of home care is to promote, maintain, or restore a patient’s health and reduce the effects of disease or disability. You need to be invested in this purpose, otherwise it will mean nothing to you.
How often is the industry changing, in terms of innovative and scientific developments? How important is it to be constantly adapting?
The Healthcare Industry in constantly changing to become more innovative. There are always new scientific developments being created, which change the way we provide our in-house healthcare services. Healthcare leaders need to be constantly adapting for their organisations to survive in what is a highly competitive industry.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is heavily evolving in Healthcare. Artificial Intelligence offers a few advantages from traditional analytics to key decision making, especially when it comes to clinical aspects. Leaders must be able and willing to adapt, otherwise they will be left behind.
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