By Sara Poirier Correa
Sentinel Business Reporter
Every other Tuesday morning from 9:30 to 10, Michele Thomas puts on a headset and opens the phone lines at WGCH 1490. Speaking to guests and listeners via the Greenwich radio station and her show “Good Living With Michele Thomas,” she discusses topics related to aging and long-term care in an effort to enlighten the public.
In doing so, Thomas hopes to propel the message of her employer, Osborn Home Care, across the airwaves as the Westchester-based company makes moves to open an office in town.
“There is a difference between aging in a community and aging at home,” said Thomas, executive vice president of Osborn Home Care, a partner of The Osborn continuum of care community based in Rye, N.Y. “As long as someone can safely and independently age at home, even with assistance, there will be people who choose to do that.”
“Osborn Home Care is essential to people who want to stay at home,” she added.
Now a $13 million business, Osborn Home Care began 20 years ago and has been working with clients in both Westchester County, N.Y., and Fairfield County for years. In addition to opening office space on Mason Street, which will provide back office support to staff and a venue for future educational classes, according to Thomas, Osborn Home Care is hoping to also get its home care services covered by Medicare in Connecticut.
This, Thomas said, would open Osborn Home Care to a new crop of clients to whom nursing could be made available. In New York, she added, the company is one of the largest private duty home health agencies in the state.
As of now, the offerings of Osborn Home Care in Connecticut are covered only through long-term care insurance or can be paid for out of pocket.
While its licensing is different in each state—in New York it’s held under the Department of Health and in Connecticut it’s a home care companion license held by the Department of Consumer Protection—the mission remains the same: to help people.
“Although we may have a new address in Greenwich, stability and attention to every detail sets us apart,” Thomas said of separating from the competition.
“For now, we really take care of people in their homes,” she added.
While The Osborn offers a variety of long-term care options—from independent living to assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing to rehabilitation—the home care companion service offered within Connecticut is just as valuable, said Thomas, who joined Osborn in February 2015 after heading a Florida-based home health services company.
It was in Florida that Thomas began guest hosting a similar radio show, an idea she brought to the tri-state area when she moved.
Last year, she and her staff at Osborn Home Care helped 500 clients from Westchester County, N.Y., as well as the Greenwich and Stamford area. This includes having met with new clients to review the benefits of home care and working to create plans that “meets them where they’re at.”
“No one wants to admit they have to have someone coming in for help,” Thomas said, adding that companions at Osborn are given additional training in disease management and symptom management, beyond the state required two weeks.
“From the minute [the clients] open the door, [the companions] want to make sure it’s a positive experience,” she added of the goal of the training.
Of opening office space in Greenwich, Thomas said: “Being a little bit more woven into the community will help us better understand the needs of the community.”
The Osborn began in 1908, following the death of founder Miriam Osborn in 1892. She left a portion of her estate to carry out her vision, which her friend and attorney John Sterling did with the help of architect Bruce Price. The campus of The Osborn now includes amenities such as three restaurants, a hair salon and places to shop for essentials. Some clients, Thomas said, even refer to The Osborn as a cruise ship.
“We are here to keep people safe and independent as long as possible in wherever they call home,” she said of The Osborn/Osborn Home Care models.
The next “Good Living” radio broadcast will be on March 22. Joan Nimmo, a licensed clinical social worker at My Second Home, an intergenerational adult day program of Family Services of Westchester, will be the guest. The topic, Thomas said, will be differentiating normal memory loss from abnormal memory loss.
For more on Osborn Home Care and its services in Connecticut, visit theosborn.org/westchester-county-home-care or call 203-292-1546. Information about The Osborn is available at theosborn.org or by calling 914-925-8000.
