JACKSON — Great Lakes Caring Chief Executive Officer William Deary announced the company will be adding more than 300 home health and hospice care positions this year — 225 in Michigan, and 100 in Indiana and Ohio.
Hiring for clinical and administrative positions began in January for two new home health offices in Macomb and Oakland counties in Michigan and three new home health and hospice offices in Terre Haute and northern Indiana and eastern Ohio. Between January and April of 2012, more than 160 employees have been hired already by Great Lakes Caring, exceeding year-to-date expectations by 60 percent, Deary said.
“As of January first of this year, each day over 8,000 baby boomers turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare home health and hospice services. The more than 300 jobs we will fill represent an economic investment by our company of over $21 million in wages, benefits, local taxes and infrastructure in 2012,” Deary said.
Great Lakes Caring employs over 1,100 people in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Since 2006, its geographical coverage area has grown more than five times while the employee base has more than tripled, with the addition of seven offices in the Great Lakes Region. It services a total of 71 counties: 38 in Michigan; 31 in Indiana; and nine in Ohio.
In Michigan, it has locations in Adrian; Bingham Farms; Brighton; Clinton Twp; East Lansing; Grand Rapids; Jackson; Kalamazoo; and St. Johns.
“Following an industry downturn in the second quarter of 2011 related to Medicare regulatory changes, we were able to post a 21 percent increase in our fourth-quarter admissions,” Deary said. He attributes this substantial growth to Great Lakes Caring’s exceptional leadership team, dedicated clinicians providing superior quality health care, and every employee working to exceed the expectation of referral sources, and most importantly, the patients they serve every day.