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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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New Year shows signs of recovery for franchises

From our Care Blog

A recent report by IHS Global Insight for the International Franchise Association Educational Foundation predicts modest growth for franchise businesses in 2012, in areas such as number of establishments, employment, output and contributions to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). This comes after three years of restrained growth due to the recession. The outlook for growth differs among industries with personal services franchises expected to be a leader at 6.2 percent output growth. Overall, franchise business jobs are projected to grow 2.1 percent, with an increase of 168,000 jobs. Here at FirstLight, we have a very positive outlook on 2012’s forecast...

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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 welcomes industry veterans to corporate team

From our Care Blog

Here at FirstLight, we are pleased to announce the addition of Shirley Weber and Dan Roberts to our corporate team as directors of business development and team support. Shirley comes to us with over 13 years of experience in the home care industry, having been a partner in and operated Houston’s largest and most successful senior home care company for eight years, with five additional years spent running her own successful home care consultant practice, working with independents and franchise systems alike with a solid track record of success. Based out of Houston, Texas, Weber will support FirstLight franchisees in...

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Gift certificates for caregiving services? Get ‘em here!

From our Care Blog

Anyone who’s experienced first-hand the rewards and challenges of caring for an elderly loved one can attest to how stressful it can be, especially if you can’t take time off for yourself.  This week we launched FirstLight Home Care Instant Gift Certificate – an online program that allows you to purchase gift certificates for our professional caregiving services through a secure website. With the holidays around the corner, this is a great gift for anyone looking for respite care, or people who want to test out our services. Call or visit your nearest location today to find out details.

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