Avamere Health Systems Announces New President of Signature Home Health

(WILSONVILLE, Ore.) - Avamere Health Systems CEO Bob Schneider and COO Brent Hutchings have announced today that Trey Malicoat, president of Avamere's Signature Hospice, will also assume the leadership of Signature Home Health.

Malicoat, who has been with Avamere since 2005, will refocus the $12 million company on individualized needs for services. He will be responsible for providing more direct service workers and streamline management systems at Signature Home Health by using the same model he employs at Signature Hospice.

Malicoat will oversee the trained staff of 200 nurses, social workers, home health aids and physical therapists in this new home care model designed to serve communities throughout the entire Pacific Northwest.

Chief of Operations of Signature Hospice Jane Brandes said she looks forward to the partnership. "Trey will increase the operation's organization and long term strategy for the hospice," she said.

"Trey's culture has led to this success," she said. "Providing more direct service workers and less middle management is the secret to our incredible growth and maintaining the highest standards of service. We offer individual care. If we need six people to serve one patient, we'll have six people there."

Signature Home Health's Chief of Operations Cheryl Lovell agrees. "We are going to make this the agency of the future," she said of Signature Home Health and Signature Hospice. "We will work together to bring the most excellent home health clinicians in the area to us. We are going to work together to be the health company in this market that delivers the highest quality of care."

Lovell said she is actively recruiting the most experienced clinicians with a passion about caring for people in their homes.

Signature Home Health provides skilled nursing, rehabilitation therapy, medical social work service and home health aides who will focus on giving individuals, families and caregivers the skills to live safely at home while providing the care and therapy individuals may need for recovery from an illness. The company has Oregon offices in Bend, Eugene, Medford and Wilsonville; and in Washington in Federal Way, Bellingham and Bellevue.

Malicoat's goal is to make Signature Home Health more patient-driven. "I believe allowing individual patients to define their home health needs will lead to faster recovery," he said. "Direct service workers will report directly to managers, creating more responsibility and autonomy for all employees." Malicoat, who has grown the five-employee Signature Hospice to serve over 300 individuals and families in 2007, will open a new 12-bed inpatient hospice care in Beaverton this March.

Signature Home Health and Hospice accepts most private insurances plans, private pay clients and is certified by Medicare.

Malicoat says that assuming leadership of Signature Home Health is one step closer to Avamere's mission of comprehensive integration of comprehensive, patient-centered services.