As part of our caregiving coverage at Detroit PBS, One Detroit looks at how home care works and why some care providers got into the business.  

In Clinton Township, 1st Call Home Healthcare started when three firefighters were looking for a new enterprise after their basement remodeling business went bust in the 2008 economic downturn.    

One of the founders, Jason Groth, had done research and found opportunities in home care. A late-night call helped convince his business partners to launch the company. Bob Mlynarek and Mike Barnhard were called out to help an older, disoriented woman. On the emergency run, the woman’s daughter arrived, telling them she wanted her mother to stay in her home but needed someone to come take care of her, Mlynarek said.   

“Me and Mike looked at each other, and we said, ‘Well, this is our business,’” he recalled. “And from there we never looked back.”  

1st Call now has nearly 150 caregivers on its roster serving fifty patients across Michigan.  

The company’s talent acquisition specialist Melissa Sharp is on a constant search, looking for nurses, therapists and caregivers.   

A labor shortage has increased drastically, Sharp said. Wages have, too.  

Recent 1st Call jobs postings show caregivers wages at up to $20 an hour and nurses $40-$45 an hour.  

“We’ve also greatly increased our benefits package in the last five years,” Sharp said. “Home care as an industry did not typically offer a lot of benefits for staff. That has changed.”  

The company continues to grow statewide in part because of online technology, Mlynarek said. 

“The use of the internet and Zoom and Google Meet has allowed us to recruit and even train staff virtually,” he said. “It’s gotten a lot easier to service clients all over the state.”