Right at Home In Home Care & Assistance, Mt. Kisco
It took a death in the family for Regi and Geetha Mathews to find their true calling in life. The couple was mourning the loss of Geetha Mathews’ mother from non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma six years ago when they began to consider a new direction.
After several more years they discovered a unique business opportunity called Right at Home, a franchise that provides care for people who don’t need long-term care but still need assistance at home. The couple, originally from India where seniors are considered the “fountains of knowledge,” believes there is nothing more honorable than caring for one’s elders.
“The simple ritual of caring and respecting our elders and treating them with the love they so richly deserve is what is missing in this day and age,” said Regi Mathews. “We’re so caught up with trying to make our first million that we forget our ancient traditions of taking care of our elderly.”
The Mount Kisco-based franchise, which provides services to its clients in northern Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, offers myriad services. Those services include nonmedical care that provides help with daily chores or transportation to doctor appointments and home health aide care that provides everything from bathing and dressing to light housekeeping, medication monitoring and meal planning and preparation. There is also specialty Alzheimer’s home care that provides patients with a customized care regimen that takes into account their environment and special needs.
While the company’s companionship/homemaking services are the most in demand, there are other services available that families may require, such as skilled at-home care for specific illnesses or conditions, including Parkinson’s, arthritis and osteoarthritis, hypertension and stroke, diabetes, heart disease, neuromuscular diseases and disorders, cancer recovery and palliative/hospice care.
Mathews, a former vice president and director of tax compliance for a large Wall Street firm, explained that too often seniors are released from the hospital with little or no backup assistance at home.
“Their kids are busy and everyone is working,” Mathews said.
The more cost-efficient care that Right at Home provides can often avoid the need for nursing home care, he added.
While the couple routinely coordinates with hospitals and rehabilitative facilities to ensure that patients get proper care once they arrive at home, the majority of their clients are local families.
Before signing on with the service, families have the opportunity to meet with Regi and Geetha, the parents of four children, two of whom are studying medicine.
“We see what needs to be done and we create a care plan that forms the backbone of what we will provide,” explained Mathews.
The company, which was founded by Allen Hager, a former hospital administrator in Nebraska, maintains a rigorous vetting process. Background checks are a routine practice, and prospective caregivers are required to go through several rounds of interviews, including a competency test, before being hired.
Prospective franchisees are also carefully chosen. Eric Martin, director of franchise development for the company, said people are sought who have managed teams and have had success in corporate America, but more importantly, who are driven by the mission to help others.
Mathews agreed, adding that he and his wife wouldn’t be in the business if they didn’t see the value in helping the elderly, whom they believe are society’s most vulnerable.
“We always wanted to be involved in a business we could feel good about and at the same time to give something back to our community,” he said.
The Right at Home offices are located at 120 Kisco Ave., Suite B, in Mount Kisco. To find out more about its services, call 914-864-0588 or e-mail Regi Mathews at rmathews@westchesterinhomecare.com. More information can be found at www.westchesterinhomecare.com.
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