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 BY ROBERT PACKER, PRESIDENT/CEO HOME NURSING AGENCY Expanding Our Tradition of Caring and Excellence…Making a Profound Difference Home Nursing Agency is stronger than ever before! We're celebrating our most successful year since our humble beginning nearly 40 years ago when three nurses - with their black bags and a pioneering spirit - began visiting the region's homebound who were coping with chronic illness and behavioral health issues. I believe our success is conveyed through a strong financial performance and in our steadfast commitment to each of our five core principles - Leadership, Employee Satisfaction, Customer Satisfaction, Quality and Profitable Growth. Every day we're recognizing the positive effects when our actions reflect our principles. Although Home Nursing Agency continues to grow by leaps and bounds, it's important that we stay true to our mission of caring and compassion. Our donors' long-standing tradition of generous giving to Home Nursing Agency's Foundation has sustained our ability to provide charitable care to families who lack sufficient healthcare coverage or have limited financial means. These funds have bolstered the Agency's efforts to provide the highest quality care to those who need it and have had a great impact on our five principles, namely employee and customer satisfaction. An important part of the Agency's employee satisfaction principle states that we make 'a profound difference in the lives of those we serve' and because our employees have the opportunity to apply for funds from the Foundation's Grants Committee to enhance their services, many staff have developed a renewed sense that what they do and how they do it truly makes all the difference. Last year alone, the Foundation gave over $130,000 to support charitable care and community benefit initiatives requested by employees. Whether its providing additional nursing visits for hospice patients whose health coverage has reached its limit, establishing best practices in wound care technology, or offering an extra hour respite care for parents caring for their critically-ill child, Home Nursing Agency's Foundation helps employees make a profound difference while providing the highest quality care available. Moreover, the ardent support from our strong Foundation commingled with our profitable growth has enabled us to offer bereavement services to children and their families at no cost, and to ensure that grieving children receive the much needed support and as one of our donors so eloquently stated, “to provide them a soft place to fall.” The Agency is extremely grateful to all of its donors who, by their act of giving, affirm the value of the services we provide our communities. We've experienced remarkable growth, especially in hospice care and children's behavioral health services, and remain the preferred provider of specialized in-home and community-based services to over 21,000 individuals throughout Central Pennsylvania. This past year we've also welcomed over 300 new employees placing us very close to the 1,000-employee mark. We know our staff, board members and volunteers have been some of our best channels to identifying the right people who are compatible with our mission. Ultimately, we're searching for qualified individuals of all disciplines who match our culture and commitment to excellence - and who will carry on our momentum as a Best Place to Work (BPTW) in PA. We're challenged by similar recruitment and retention issues as our healthcare and business partners, yet we're hopeful that our endeavors to build and sustain a superior culture will help us to stay ahead of workforce shortages, especially as the graying of America ensues. The Agency is positioning its service line to meet the growing medical demands of an aging population while strengthening service lines such as private duty and adult day care to keep people as healthy and as independent as possible. For individuals coping with mental health issues, or living with physical and cognitive limitations, the Agency provides an array of supportive services and remains the provider of choice for many physicians, hospitals, school districts, county services, and our communities. Our reputation for actively pursing the newest techniques and treatment strategies has prompted state and federal agencies to partner with us on several pilot projects. We've also collaborated with community partners and legislators who share our values and who are committed to improving access to care, especially for those living in some of our most rural areas. Our renewed investment, along with the Foundation's support, in emerging technologies to monitor our patients' acute medical conditions and wounds have led to better clinical outcomes and increased customer satisfaction. I believe technology cannot take the place of a nurse, but it has proven to be a viable means of monitoring patients' health and well-being while at home. Over the past fiscal year, Home Nursing Agency has been recognized for our leadership and engagement of best practices to enhance satisfaction among employees and patients. Our Leadership accomplishments include:
Sincerely, Robert R. Packer President/CEO, Home Nursing Agency 
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