Really, Visiting Angels?
Perhaps your name should be "Visiting Corporation Seeking Maximum Profit"
When we decided to have an elderly parent move in with us we thought hiring this agency (a franchise) might be a good option. There is a great need for good caregiving services for our elderly and if you are fortunate to have the resources for in-home care you are among the lucky ones. But, as we unfortunately found out, the fancy brochure you get from Visiting Angels has little to do with what happens when you actually hire this outfit.
In our case, the promise of "Visiting Angels" was no more than words printed on a page. While the needs for our father were basic, the cost of services provided were not - you pay a premium ($30+/hour) for in-home care, although this seemed lost with our "local Minnesota" franchise. They spent more time complaining about how the people who came into our house were feeling about their care (how the elderly client treated them), than showing concern about what they could do to provide better care for our father. To us, one of the obvious features of being old is that your loss of ability to function makes you at times cranky and stubborn - aspects of aging that would seem so obvious that we thought an agency specializing in elder care would not only be familiar with them, but also be used to training their caregivers to address. Instead, Visiting Angels treated our father's symptoms as if they were meant to be taken personally. However, since some caregivers were completely able to manage his needs without trouble, it was strange when others were sent who took it as a personal insult when it came to our father being cranky about putting on his socks or getting to his appointments. If one caregiver can handle the regular tasks and communication without trouble, why wouldn't the agency work to replicate this with other caregivers via simple training? At what point does paying over $30 hour for services (less than half of which goes to the caregiver) get transferred into training the caregiver vs. directed to the pockets of the owners?
Well, the answer is that it stays in their pocket. So, when Visiting Angels told us at the last minute (we were were literally a few days from heading out of town) that there was no way they could cover the shifts already scheduled, we decided to pull the plug and transfer to another agency. At this point, the reality of the loss of a large income source brought out their real character, and Visiting Angels turned into a corporate attack dog. After multiple confirmations that, "we really, really meant it when we said we no longer want your service", Visiting Angels threatened one of the caregivers who wanted to continue working with our father at the new agency that they (the caregiver!) would be "fined" for going to another agency and continuing to work with him (indentured servitude much?). To make it even more clear what they really wanted ($) we were told they would only "release" her if we paid them $10,000. REALLY? When we failed to bend to this crude and outrageous extortion attempt and directed them to cease all further communication with us their response was that the "Visiting Angels corporate attorney" would be in touch.
Thankfully, the story ends with justice, as where Visiting Angels feared to tread was where the laws of the United States are clear: remember all those HIPPA forms that doctors offices have you sign dealing with health care privacy? Well, it turns out they specify that it is illegal for information about your personal health care to be shared (including who is doing the care) with other people (including your former agency) without the express written permission of the person receiving the care. Only when the VA corporate attorney was made aware that we understood the law did they back off from their attempt at illegal extortion. From our experience, there is little doubt the "corporate values" of this Visiting Angels franchise are minuscule compared to their lust for profit.
Clearly, a name change is in order. As the old line goes, we suggest you let your fingers do the walking. Your elder deserves better - and will find it - with another agency. read more