meet: VISITING ANGELS:

Caregivers take house calls, provide relief

Michael and Jackie DiAsio, who own the Visiting Angels care agency, are seen Nov. 13, 2012.

Name of business: Visiting Angels

Address: 1701 N. Green Valley Parkway, Henderson, NV 89074 and 9436 W. Lake Mead Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89134

Phone: 407-1100 (Henderson) or 562-3322 (Las Vegas)

Website: www.visitingangels.com/vegas

Hours and days of operation: Office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; caregiving services are provided seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Owned by: Michael and Jacqueline DiAsio

In business since: 2000

Describe your business.

Our goal is to keep seniors in their homes. We are a personal care agency that assists with daily living activities, such as transferring, personal hygiene, dressing, meal preparation and transportation. We do not provide medical care.

What’s new with your company?

In 2012, we expanded our office in Summerlin, which has been well-received by the community. Health care partners have asked us to expand into Pahrump, so we are beginning to hire employees there.

Who are your customers?

We serve Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas. Our license is for any adult over the age of 18; however, about 95 percent of our clients are seniors.

What is your business philosophy?

“We are all in this (world) together.” We are a team of hard-working people who try to take care of as many people as possible.

What makes your business unique?

Our 225 employees are extremely dedicated and caring. They have been with us, on average, for three to four years, so they are very experienced.

The people who apply for jobs with us are largely younger seniors themselves. Many of them have worked in senior care or health care for years. Oftentimes, our clients feel a connection with their caregiver that’s reminiscent of their relationship with their own adult children.

What’s the most important part of your job?

By providing high-quality in-home care to those who need it, we reduce a lot of stress for families. We relieve the stress not only for the senior care recipient, but also for their primary caregiver, who usually is an exhausted family member.

What is the hardest part about doing business in Las Vegas?

We do not think there is anything unusually hard about doing business in Las Vegas. Every community is going to have isolated incidents of poor performance or judgment.

What is the best part about doing business in Las Vegas?

We have found the health care community to be very welcoming and professional.

What obstacles has your business overcome?

The challenging local economy in Las Vegas. Specifically, the very high unemployment rate.

2011 was our best year since we opened in 2000, and 2012 will be about 10 percent better than 2011. We have overcome the difficult economy by lowering our prices and being more flexible for our clients and health care partners. We have taken our excellent reputation and expanded into new areas of town.

How can Nevada improve its business climate?

Promote the quality of life here apart from the Strip. Nevada has many things to offer residents that are as good or better than other places in the country. We need to amplify those.

What have you learned from the recession?

That maybe it is possible for the United States to go out of business. What we experienced from 2007 to 2009 was a close one.

I also clearly learned that the deeper the recession, the slower the comeback. This is a huge economy we operate within.

Business

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