VANCOUVER, January, 2022 – Interview released with Sam Grant, CEO of Proof of Care & Pat Love, Parkbench.
Describe your business
Proof of Care is a boutique, Vancouver owned and operated in-home health care provider that specializes in supporting and promoting safe and happy home care that is delivered by our amazing team of career Caregivers and Nurses.
We have a wonderful team of exceptional care providers that are well trained, well motivated and well paid – and that last point is something that we are very proud of. We hire less than 5% of people that apply to work with us. We not only have rigorous standards, but we have a professional performance culture that rewards our brilliant staff for ongoing education and training, as well as daily professionalism in their roles. All of that leads to amazing care for our clients.
We look after a wide range of clients that are looking for anything from a little companionship and joy brought to their home, to people needing extra assistance to get through their day, whether that’s mobility assistance, help with meals and housework, toileting and bathing, or right through to acute care supported by our incredible nurses for clients with more specific medical needs. We support people from a couple of hours a day, right through to 24 hour a day, 7 day a week care.
What has surprised you most while working here?
How strong the need is for properly educated, professional home care that is supported by nurses.
I often describe the home care industry in Canada as ‘The Wild West’ – it’s completely unregulated in Canada. There are no minimum requirements to call yourself a caregiver at all. No requirement for police checks, professional training or even a first aid certification. It’s truly terrifying and we unfortunately hear horror stories on a daily basis. We are really proud to fight against that and to set our own standards for our workers and their workplaces – our client’s homes. We have the highest ratio of nurse management to clients of any homecare company in Canada, which translates to more oversight, more check-ins, more training and higher standards than anyone else. That’s what happens when you are founded by a truly exceptional Nurse, as Proof of Care was.
Why did you decide to work here?
I met with the founder of Proof of Care, Tracy Sacré in 2016 and completely fell in love with her story. Tracy is an incredible Nurse and had a stellar career working in BC’s health care system, not only as a Registered Nurse in Vancouver’s hospitals, but also as an educator and mentor. She had started Proof of Care purely out of frustration, having seen the exploitative and ineffective in-home care model that is so prevalent in Canada. The business had been very successful, and had grown to the point that it really needed its first ‘non-nurse’ to come in as a business professional to support the growth and to set the company up to be able to provide more avenues for service and employment, while systemizing the operations and expanding on the fantastic work that had been done in the initial years of operation. I had a background in operating multisite locations and working for some of the biggest companies in the world. I wanted to bring my big business know-how to a smaller organisation that was doing meaningful work – it was a perfect fit.
What was it like when you first started?
In a word – inspiring!
We have unbelievably amazing staff working for us, truly passionate professional caregivers and managers. I’m still impressed with the lengths our team goes to for our clients on a daily basis. This is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week operation and I had a lot to learn about the home health industry and the services we provided. I spent a lot of time getting to know our workers and our clients to understand where we could make some meaningful improvements, quickly. The more I learned about our fantastic staff, the clearer my first priority became – we needed to reward and retain our Caregivers. That’s been high on my priority list ever since, and it’s why we proudly charge a little more than some competitors to enable us to pay often a lot more than our competitors. It’s part of why Proof of Care has the best care team in Canada.
What is the most memorable experience you’ve had working there?
There have been a lot of stand out moments at Proof of Care. While I won’t speak to specifics in respect to our client’s privacy, my favourite moments are always the improvements that we can make in peoples lives. You know, it’s a funny industry when some of our proudest moments are when we lose a client! We call it a ‘health graduation’. That’s where a client has come into our care in need of a little (and often a lot) of extra help. We rally our team around the client and over time support them back to independence. They reach a point where they no longer require our assistance and end services with us, something most companies would never want to see, yet we love and celebrate those moments! We are all about promoting independence and returning to health, whenever that is possible.
What would your customers say they love most about your business?
Without a doubt, our amazing Caregivers. We have incredible, passionate, giving and caring staff – truly the best in the business. They are often helping someone on their worst day, or in a tough situation and they bring a bundle enthusiasm, joy, interest and professionalism – and they do it every single day. They are inspirational and we owe all of Canada’s professional caregivers a great debt of gratitude.
Why do you think it’s important for people to shop local?
Like many industries, we operate in a sea of foreign franchises. When it comes to healthcare, having local knowledge is unbelievably important. We know how to navigate our complex healthcare system, we can advocate for you as we know all the right people right here in our community. That local knowledge was hard earned by our Nurse Management team, and it’s not something that can be bought or imported. Our clients love that we are 100% Vancouver owned and that we have employed hundreds of staff, that in turn return that income into our economy. We have a strong network of local suppliers and professional service providers right here in the greater Vancouver area and that’s important to us and our clients. We are focused right here, and not on a national or international corporate balance sheet.
What do you love most about the neighborhood?
I’m lucky enough to drive over the Lions Gate Bridge on a daily basis and take in just how spectacular our coastline and mountains are. I grew up in south east Australia, where we were lucky to see any rain at all, and never snow. Watching the snowline move up and down the Northshore mountains on a daily basis in winter is one of the great joys of living in Vancouver.
Where are your favorite places to go in the neighborhood?
I love the Polygon Gallery and the CityScape ArtSpace, the Polygon has a fantastic little gift shop that Ispend far too much on at Christmas time. My partner Marléne and I love taking our dog on hikes at Lighthouse Park and Lynn Valley Headwaters. We love the wood fired pizza at Il Castello and the food trucks at the Shipyards, they often have Aussie pies that make me homesick!
For further information:
Proof of Care – Home Health Care
Phone: 604 986 2273, Email: info@proofofcare.ca
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