“Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world the best you’ve got anyway,” – said Mother Teresa, inspiring billions to be compassionate in providing people around them, with whatever care they can provide with.
What is life without love, care, and compassion? We feel for others and provide for them. It is the greatest of the joys in anyone’s life to bring in a positive change in someone else’s life. The gratitude you receive in return makes you humbler, and more humane.
Enamoured by such compassion to transform people’s lives positively, Michael Collura, CEO, an entrepreneur by his passion but a caregiver at his heart, launched In Home Personal Services (IHPS), eighteen years ago.
Today, this unique company, with multiple franchises, is renowned across the United States, for its non-medical senior care. Under the compassionate leadership of Michael, IHPS is furthering the cause to the countless seniors and their families.
Embarking on a Journey to Deliver Care
For Michael Collura, inspiration started early on, at the young age of just 15 years old. He started his very first job at a nursing home in 1990. It made quite the impression on him. He saw how society cared for those that have, for a generation, been the entire world to him. It made him want to be part of their lives and ensure that as they aged, as all of us would want, to have those golden years be filled with life, independence, joy, and security.
The life they lived as seniors is not unlike the life all of us have already lived. Certainly, there will be changes, but never in how one feels or desires a lifestyle of their choosing. That is in its heart why he wanted to not just be part of IHPS but develop and continue to develop its ability to bring that lifestyle and the choices they make into everything that they do.
On the necessity for healthcare services companies to align their offerings with newer technological developments, especially when it comes to catering to the ever-evolving healthcare needs, Michael feels that one should never forget that IHPS is more than a service provider. It provides the most personal and intimate care. Its service and the care it provides impact the lives of not just the ‘seniors’ it cares for, but also that of their entire families.
The Pandemic Encountered
From a leadership perspective, Michael opines that the pandemic is a horrific and tragic example of why a healthcare system must always be prepared for the absolute worst. It also showed him the divide in the society that exists, when it comes to education, access, and prevention within the health care system.
As a service provider, he saw tremendous loss and heartache but also a new level of what it takes to be a professional care provider. According to Michael, leaders in this industry must be the example here and show the world what this industry can and should be. He strongly feels that we all need to be better.
As per Michael, during the pandemic, sustaining operations was not a problem. It is a terrible reality, but he saw wave after wave of folks coming to them seeking care from his team. Their biggest challenge during this pandemic was really two-fold.
First, it was the fear, misinformation and assumptions that created a new obstacle for them as a provider to overcome. While steps must be taken to protect the public from the spread of COVID, they cannot ignore the needs of the same people in fear that they still need care.
Second, was the team itself. They simply could not bring on, hire, or find the staff fast enough. To maintain pace with the surge of new clients, seeking to receive their care from IHPS, rather than an institution or unprepared provider they were already using and wanted to make a change.
The demand was so high that they had to get creative and grow as a brand in order to meet these challenges without sacrificing the safety, quality, and reputation they have had since 2004.
Looking back, he is immensely proud of his entire team, because his company did it and achieved these milestones amidst a pandemic while bringing that safety, security, and reassurance to those that trusted the company in their care.
Changing the Status Quo
Given a chance, the one thing that Michael would like to change about the healthcare services space is equality. Michael strongly feels that healthcare is a human service and the freedoms some cherishes are not shared equally by all.
It is a pandemic of its own to see how society does not find the compassion it should have in an abundance. He says that as a country they enjoy so many freedoms. They should celebrate those freedoms ensuring the basic human rights to all, equally.
As an established leader, his simple advice to the budding entrepreneurs, aspiring to venture into the healthcare services space is that they must do it because they care. If they enter the industry because of its growth potential, financial security or because it’s resilient to all forms of disaster (natural or manmade), then they should stop right there and do something else.
While those are all real and valid reasons, they are missing the point. This industry needs those that have heart, compassion, and a genuine desire to help others. If they lack those qualities, they will fail.
Pertaining to his role at IHPS, Michael envisions scaling the company’s operations and offerings in the future, through franchising. As per him, they have built a business model that is scalable, proven, and replicable across the US and beyond.
Michael concludes on an endearing note, “Our plan today is simple. Continue to expand the brand through its franchising opportunities and bring in more like-minded individuals that value all the benefits of entrepreneurship but also want to do good. There is no fault in a for-profit health care system or business, but it must be able to do good.”
