Introduction to Family First Companion Care
“I go into people’s homes and make them promises about the kind of care we are going to provide, so I take the provision of that care very seriously.”
Rashelle Hammack, Executive Director of Family First
Who is Family First?
Family First Companion Care knows that top quality care comes from building strong relationships in family-oriented environments. Through these relationships, caretakers gain valuable information and feedback to improve the everyday lives of their clients and to ensure their clients’ independence wherever they call home. For 11 years Family First has made sure that clients are always first in service, responsiveness and customer care.
Family First was founded in 2008 by local physicians, Holly and Mark Vickers, who couldn’t find a care model that fit the needs of their mother. Rashelle Hammack joined our start-up as Executive Director. Since the beginning, our goal has been to provide the best care possible.
What Makes Us Unique?
Family First only cares for Evansville and the surrounding area. We aren’t a franchise and we don’t have a big service area, only four counties. Because of our size, our clients have direct access to decision makers at all times. This direct communication and responsiveness is something that benefits our families and really sets us apart.
Another thing that makes us special is that Rashelle is the only director that does intake. All of our families meet and know her. This is important because directors often have the largest scope of knowledge. During intake we have to start thinking through obstacles that we will have to overcome to provide care and create effective care plans for our families. Rashelle is best suited for this, with years of experience and an extensive knowledge base.
What Makes Us Credible?
With years of experience, we continue to expand our knowledge on how to provide the best care possible. Our community is a very competitive environment, so there are a lot of us. If we want to be successful, we have to be able to do our job well. If not, families have a wide selection of other choices. We are licensed with the State Department of Health, so this means that we are continually vetted, audited, and looked at. We are also a provider for the State of Indiana’s medicaid waiver service program in Title III. That is another level of oversight that we undergo to make sure we do our jobs well. Additionally, we are a contract provider with the VA. There are a lot of people making sure that we are doing a good job in our community.
What Does It Mean To Be A Small Model Agency?
Family First is considered a small model agency because of the number of billable hours that we provide yearly. In actual terms of care, that means we speak to our staff and a large percentage of our clients on a weekly basis. We receive calls about schedules and bills, as well as calls from our caregivers giving us valuable information about our clients, which equals better care overall.
We also realize that collaboration between different agencies is very important. If we can’t provide the care that is needed, we need to feel confident in whoever we are using as a referral. We often communicate back and forth with agencies that share a similar philosophy of care with us and they do a great job.
Why Rashelle Does What She Does
Rashelle takes what we do as an agency very personally, because she knows what it is like to be a recipient of care. She has also been a caregiver in her personal life, and her parents have lived with her for a number of years. Her father was provided care in her home and passed away there. She has had other caregivers in her home, as well as hospice, so she knows how it should be done and how it feels to be provided that service. This makes it very personal to her to make sure that we provide the absolute best care possible.