Gary Leiter, President Home Instead's mission is to "change the face of aging" in Rhode Island. Non-medical and personal care services provided by trusted CAREGivers and CNAs give families the support they need for elder loved ones to remain at home with dignity and respect.
Since 1997, Home Instead staff has grown to 250 full and part-time employees serving thousands of families in Rhode Island. My staff shares in my passion for serving the community and delivering on our promise of excellence. Our values are uncompromising as they are the foundation on which our reputation has been built.
My management staff, CAREGivers, CNAs, and I are privileged everyday to help families by providing home care solutions to the most challenging and difficult aging-in-place decisions families face today.   Valerie Topp, Chief Operating Officer Valerie brings a wealth of operational experience and client services' experience to Home Instead as she directs our staff to give families the peace of mind knowing their loved ones are being treated as if they were our own family. Valerie readily makes herself available to families to ensure their needs are met first.
Valerie is an Alzheimer's trainer and elder care educator, providing educational seminars to a variety of community organizations and family groups. Her commitment to Home Instead and its mission is at the core of her personal desire to help seniors continue to live their lives as they choose while remaining safe, happy, and healthy at home. Donna Kagan, RN: Director of Home Care Services, Home Instead Home Care Services Donna joins Home Instead Home Care Services with 38 years of broad-based nursing experience. Her skill in home care delivery has allowed Donna to establish operational protocols and guidelines for Home Instead to ensure appropriate level of care in compliance with all governing rules and regulations. In addition to the administrative detail of establishing a regulatory foundation, Donna is also responsible for conducting Care Planning Visits for those clients needing personal care services from Home Instead Home Care Services. In this regard, Donna brings skill, compassion, and empathy, the hallmarks of a great nurse, to every family she meets.
Past experience for Donna includes serving as the Residential Services Director for a respected and well known assisted living community, a school nurse and camp nurse, eight years in home care, as well as several years in intensive care and emergency room settings. Priscilla Drummond, Director of Education Our CAREGivers are "the heart and soul" of Home Instead Senior Care. Providing them with specialized education and training along with their unique qualities of compassion and a gift for giving provides our clients with the very best in home care service.
Priscilla's expertise is in human resources, training and development, employee relations, performance management, and benefits administration. She has a PHR designation from the Society for Human Resource Management. Her responsibilities include training and education for all direct care staff, community education and staff development.
Priscilla administers the "CAREGiver experience", a one of a kind program in home care that recognizes the unique values of each caregiver. She facilitates our exclusive Alzheimer's CAREGiver training curriculum that was developed by The George G. Glenner Alzheimer's Family Centers, Inc. This respected organization is at the forefront of Alzheimer's and dementia patient care training. Joining Home Instead Senior Care was an opportunity to apply her extensive HR and training background in an environment where lives are touched every day. Isabel Rosa, Client Services and Ambassador Program Supervisor Isabel, who has received her certification in Interdisciplinary Practice in Geriatrics from the University of Rhode Island, has 17 years of experience working with older adults. As Care Planning Supervisor, Isabel focuses on the unique needs of each family, developing a 'Care Plan' that ensures the safety and independence of our aging adults. From the initial CAREGiver assignment, throughout a family's relationship with Home Instead, Isabel monitors the care provided through a benchmark quality assurance program which she oversees with the support of Home Instead Ambassadors. Her passion is working with frail older adults and making a difference in their lives. Susan Haley, Community Relations Representative Sue is recognized and respected in the senior care community for her knowledge of the issues, trends, and drivers that impact Home Instead efforts to 'change the face of aging' in Rhode island. As a Community Relations Representative, Sue calls on referral providers throughout the State, offering Home Instead resources to inform and educate our senior population and their families on the option of aging in place in their homes with appropriate levels of care. With a career in healthcare marketing and sales including assisted living, Sue is a strong networker with an intuitive ability to build community partnerships. Priscilla Luckhardt, Community Relations Representative Priscilla brings a successful career in sales and marketing with a fresh perspective on healthcare reform as it pertains to the needs of seniors to her role as Community Relations Representative. Working in partnership with Sue Haley, Priscilla defines and implements opportunities for effective collaborations that benefit Home Instead's Referral Provider Network and the clients/seniors/families they serve. Priscilla's inquisitive nature tends to make her an effective relationship builder while her creative thinking results in engaging events, education, and training for referral providers and community partners. Heidi Kevorkian, Care Planning Coordinator Heidi is Home Instead's point of contact with families considering home-based care services for themselves or a family member. Conducting 'Care Planning Visits' with prospective clients, Heidi translates the health and safety needs of a senior into a customized 'Care Plan' to improve quality of life and well-being. Her adept facilitation of family dialog, along with her understanding of senior needs as they relate to aging in place at home, make Heidi a trusted resource for families facing important life decisions relating to their senior loved one. Heidi's interesting background in sales and customer service includes previous work with a biophysics corporation as well as with MetLife. Lori Alcini, Client Services Coordinator If patience, a smile, and the true desire to serve clients and CAREGivers represent a path to success at Home Instead, then Lori is well on her way down that path. As a Client Services Coordinator, Lori intuitively translates the health and safety needs, likes and dislikes, and hobbies and interests of each client into a carefully selected CAREGiving Team that will fall nothing short of delight on the part of our seniors and their families. She adeptly handles new client scheduling and schedule changes, assuring that every client benefits from the compassion and skill of a Home Instead CAREGiver without fail. Lori's career in customer service no doubt prepared her to competently address client and CAREGiver needs. Kathy Kerr, Client Services Coordinator Kathy Kerr is utilizing career experience in patient care coordination and sales to provide exemplary service to Home Instead clients and CAREGivers through detail-driven staffing. She also assists prospective clients with information and resources that provide a framework for informed decision-making. Prior health-related experience with the senior population has fostered Kathy's ability to listen carefully, identify needs, and present solutions. Her level of understanding, empathy, and thoroughness make her an asset to our office as well as to the families we serve. Julie Krause, Account Coordinator Julie joined HISC after returning home to Rhode Island for the birth of her daughter in 2006. With 16 years of service management, she was well acclimated to the fast pace activity of serving customers with excellence.
Desiring to change career paths, Julie wanted the benefit of helping people in her community. She appreciates the commitment that all of us at HISC have to helping our families and clients as well as our commitment to supporting the members of our administrative team in meeting their personal and professional goals. Julie handles accounts receivables, payroll and bookkeeping activities. She works closely with our clients to ensure complete understanding of our billed services. Betsy Palnik, Administrative Assistant Betsy appreciates the commitment that all of us at HISC have to helping our families and clients. She is the first voice heard when calling our office. She fields all calls quickly, identifying the issues in order to properly direct them to the person on staff who can handle their immediate needs. Our callers can be reassured when hearing a calm, helpful voice on the other end. Betsy also provides much needed hands-on support for our entire staff so they can focus all their attention on delivering service excellence to every Home Instead client and CAREGiver. Weekend On-call Supervisors Home Instead On-call Supervisors handle all client, CAREGiver and inquiry calls after 5pm weekdays and on weekends. Home Instead provides service 24 hours/7 days a week. Our clients and CAREGivers know we are only a phone call away from immediately responding to any crises and have told us many times how confident they are in our ability to respond with good judgment and calming assistance in any situation that arises after hours. To us, it's personal. Knowing we are counted on at any given moment to offer help is a responsibilty of which we all are proud. It assures us that we are "changing the face of aging." | 