Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It’s already been 6 months since I last wrote so I hope you all had wonderful, healthy summer and fall seasons.
We have all endured a lot this year thinking we were back to normal life, only to have another few waves of COVID put us all back on edge. I cannot thank our team enough for their ongoing commitment to our clients’ safety and I’m so glad the worst is behind us.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that, like most businesses, we have experienced staffing challenges. Many of us business leaders anticipated the workforce coming back in September as additional unemployment benefits expired. But this hasn’t been the case for a number of reasons. Although this, at times, has adversely impacted our clients, it has also renewed our commitment to serving our Life Care Professionals in the field.
It’s on us and every employer to now make it our priority to be a place where people want to work, feel valued, and will be cared for should another catastrophe hit.
As we wrap up 2021, I want to take the opportunity to thank both our administrative team and our amazing Life Care Professionals. Despite the staffing shortages, rate cuts, and the new normal of working from home, this was our best year yet. I hope to continue to learn from you, make many more improvements to how we operate, and continue to grow this organization we all love.
David Kennedy
CEO & Founder
Kennedy Care
Michigan Auto No-Fault Reform Affects In-Home Catastrophic Care
There is one more significant event from these past 6 months that I’d like to bring to your attention. On July 1st, 2021, Public Acts 21 and 22 of 2019 were implemented in the state of Michigan. These laws upended the cherished Auto No Fault system and were supposed to save drivers money. In reality, the $23B in funds that we all paid to care for the 18,000 survivors is now money that can be taken by politicians and insurance companies.
I’m proud to say that our Catastrophic Care Program has not stopped serving our clients despite a significant reduction in payment or lack of payment entirely. For the thousands of survivors who are now going without care, for the individuals who have devoted their lives to caring for their family members who are catastrophically injured, and to those that have lost their lives due to this law, all I can say is I’m sorry. We stand by you and we are here for you if you need us.
I hope that our state legislature learns from the last four months of needless suffering by these survivors and corrects its course. Join the effort to support those with catastrophic injuries by reaching out to your State Senators and State Representatives and urge them to support legislation that will resolve the issue. You can find your State Representative at https://www.house.mi.gov/ and State Senator at https://senate.michigan.gov/.
Learn more & get involved:
Silent Crash Podcast
We Can’t Wait Facebook Group
- Safe At Home Child Care has continued to expand services available to our clients and build upon an already strong training experience for all SAH child care providers, now including CPR and First Aid certification, Advanced Child Care (American Red Cross), hands-on infant care instruction, and gentle approach training.
- Patriot Care has extended their reach, now providing care to Veterans in the state of Ohio. Additionally, the team has begun introducing Registered Nurse Supervisory Visits to provide ongoing evaluation and care plan updates to make sure our clients are healthy, well, and receiving the highest quality of care.
- Share the Care has grown, now partnering with 4 Independent Living Communities across Southeast Michigan, offering services that allow their residents to receive the support they need and more time to enjoy the amenities available to them.
- Catastrophic Care continues to accept and advocate for auto-injury survivors in Michigan. While fighting the good fight, we’ve been able to see that 60 of the 18,000 people impacted by auto-reform have the care they need and retained the 100+ Life Care Professionals who serve them so selflessly.
Taking Care of Our Life Care Professionals
As we continue to experience exceptional growth, we continue to pay it forward, moving miles closer towards achieving our ultimate goal:
To take exceptional care of the people who provide exceptional care.
This year, the Kennedy Care employee experience was improved (increasing the employer contribution towards medical premiums and the rate of pay for Life Care Professionals (LCP) an average of 9%), and we will expand our benefits package to offer the following to all members of the KC team in the year 2022:
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Supplemental benefits including short-term disability and term-life insurance
- Enhanced paid time-off
- Holiday pay
- Tuition reimbursement
- Educational and professional development opportunities
- Employee recognition program
- Corporate discounts
As always, we thank all of our LCP’s and everyone at Kennedy care for continuing to live the Kennedy Care values and helping us deliver the highest quality of care.
Grow with Kennedy Care!
During 2021, Kennedy Care grew from 464 to 617 total employees!
If you are interested in growing professionally with Kennedy Care, sign up for job alerts to be the first to hear about new jobs – and the first to apply.
