Teresi and staff moving to a larger headquarters
Scott Teresi is moving his office again. The company address isn’t changing. He’s still at 53 Route 17K in Newburgh. But he’s moving to larger quarters in the same office building. His Right at Home staff has expanded. And, maybe, the company needs more space to display its awards. Three more were received this month.
Mr. Teresi employs 70 caregivers to provide home services for about 40 seniors in parts of Orange, Ulster and Dutchess County. Every month these caregivers and clients spend about five minutes on a telephone survey conducted by Home Care Pulse (an independent research firm).
The researcher measures satisfaction and shares its findings with subscribers. Mr. Teresi studies these reports and finds them very valuable. He especially zeroes in on the caregivers’ responses. He knows that if a caregiver isn’t happy, it won’t be long before a client is dissatisfied, too.
The reports tell him how well he’s matching caregivers and clients. “Our benchmark is 95 percent satisfaction,” he maintains. “It’s not good enough unless we’re at 95 percent or better.”
So far the Teresi office has been meeting that objective. It’s done well enough to win the following awards from Home Care Pulse (HCP):
– Provider of Choice (based on client satisfaction ratings)
– Employer of Choice (based on caregiver satisfaction ratings), and
– Leader in Experience (this is the premier award; it’s given to agencies in the top 15 percent of HCP subscribers)
Mr. Teresi opened his office after a stint in the Marine Corps and a career as a clinical nutritionist.
He worked for a nutrition science company for many years in sales, marketing and product development. But as he climbed the ladder, he moved further away from what he wanted to do. He went into health care to help people. And he wanted to get back to his original goal.
Right at Home gave him that opportunity. “I see the impact of what we do,” he said during a Jan. 31 interview. “I feel strongly that this is a good, quality place to work. I want them [employees] to know we care about them.”
There’s a lot of interaction with management at the Teresi office. New employees sit down with the owner after 90 days and continue to meet with him (one-n-one) at least once a year after that.
The in-house staff convenes daily. And employees in other locations tune into virtual sessions twice a month. They’ve been doing it since the start of COVID.
“The pandemic forced us to be better planners and communicators,” Mr. Teresi recalled. “It helped us create a virtual infrastructure and we added flexibility. We got stress tested and because of it we’re stronger. ”
When there was a shortage of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), the Right at Home staff was able to improvise. They bought face masks from the nail salons that had been closed by the governor. “We never had a PPE issue,” Mr. Teresi reported proudly. “Our caregivers never went without it.”
Mr. Teresi is also proud to have helped Dishal Patel set up a new office in Orange County. His headquarters are in Highland Falls.