Nursing Care

Family and Nursing Care administrative staff are very prompt, courteous, and responsive. And, most of the home health aides were fine and got on well with my aunt. In terms of providing service, the company was great. However, I rate them overall as a "D" because their business model includes a "gotcha" which they do not make you aware of, except obliquely in the fine print of their contract, and then only if you know what the innocent sounding language really means, AND, you have the mental energy to devote to contract analysis rather than on caring for your loved ones. For all intents and purposes, the company acts like an employer and treats you and your elder like customers; however, do not be fooled! When it comes to taking responsibility for tax reporting, you and your elder are on the hook--not them. Even though Family and Nursing acts like an employer--it handles all communications with the aides (hiring, firing, scheduling, setting payment rates (including overtime and holiday), referral fees, establishing holiday schedules, checking references, establishing restrictive contractual employment terms with significant financial impacts for you and the aide, etc. ); from a payroll and taxation perspective, the company washes its hands of its employer's responsibilities and dumps it on you and your elder. My aunt went from an emergency hospitalization to assisted living and hospice in less than a month, and died shortly thereafter. This period was a very busy, difficult, and emotional time for the family--as those who work in the health care industry know all too well. Fortunately our accountant identified that as an employer, my aunt needed to report what we paid the aides to the appropriate taxing authorities so at the end of the day, we're okay. The bone I have to pick with Family and Nursing Care is their documentation is deceptive by omission. They know they are avoiding the tax piece of being an employer and they don't make it obvious to distressed families and elders that the tax monkey is on our shoulders. Because we're the employer, it is not clear that the value in working with Family and Nursing Care was all that great. Yes, they found aides and checked references, but if I had to do it over again, I'm not sure the benefits of using their services were enough to justify their costs, and ultimately, I'm holding the bag as the employer anyway. I've used other companies providing similar services in the past for other elderly relatives and have not run into this problem before. I'm not saying don't use Family and Nursing care, just enter into the deal with your eyes wide open or consider using a firm that offers a complete package (i.e. pays the staff and handles the tax reporting), or, maybe even, just do it yourself.