Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/674833
GO THE E X TR A MILE . That's the mission for all service-based businesses. For LifeCare Medical Services, it's a way of life. Established in 1989 as a private ambulance company, LifeCare offers 24/7 medica l transportation — emergency and non- emergency — to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living and independent living facilities in northeast, central and southwest Ohio. For its client facilities, LifeCare's Communication Center also manages other transportation services, such as cab service, shuttle service, and courier service. " We are dedicated to providing excellent patient care and customer ser vice to a ll of the medica l facilities, communi- ties a nd patients we ser ve," says Jim Caplinger, President of LifeCare. A lthough that may sound like rhetoric, it 's based on this fact: 99.9 percent of respondents to customer satisfaction Jim Caplinger (center) is President, Rick Reed is Director of Operations and Michele Skinner is Director of Patient Accounts at LifeCare Medical Services. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, LifeCare provides emergency and non- emergency medical transportation services to residents of northeastern and southwestern Ohio. LifeCare Medical Services: Going the Extra Mile sur veys conducted after ever y LifeCare transport gave the company high marks. Caplinger, who has been involved in emergency medica l ser vices for more tha n 40 yea rs, is the owner of LifeCa re. After working his way up from EMT to chief operating o˜cer of another large regiona l ambulance company, he acquired LifeCare in 1999. Within five years, the company grew 2,100 percent under his leadership. Since then, his compa ny has garnered three Inc. 5000 awards for being one of the fastest- growing private companies in America. Today, LifeCare employs 246 people at its headquarters in Uniontown and satellite locations in Stark, Summit, Cuyahoga, Medina and Hamilton counties. Its fleet includes 48 ambu- lances, two of which are specia lly equipped bariatric units. Client hospita ls currently include Cleveland Clinic, A kron General, Marymount Hospital, South Pointe Hospital, Medina Hospital, Southwest General, Western Reserve Hospital, Select Specialty Hospital, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Drake Hospita l in southwest Ohio " We're reliable, we're consistently (95 to 98 percent) on time, and we o–er outstanding patient care," says Caplinger. "That's why these hospita ls requested our services." OUTSTANDING PEOPLE, OUTSTANDING SERVICE LifeCare prides itself in hiring knowledgeable and experienced employees who are highly competent in performing their duties and more than willing to go that extra mile. "This company's management team has an excellent reputation for providing outstanding patient care. We hire people who will contribute to that reputation," says Rick Reed, LifeCare's Corporate Director of Operations. Reed, a paramedic, has been involved in emergency medical services for almost 40 years. He joined LifeCare in 1999 as Director of Operations when Caplinger bought the company. "We intentionally look for employees who are not only compe- tent but genuinely compassionate and will give patients what they need," Reed says. "Then we hone their customer service skills, as well as their technical skills, through continuing education." For example, when LifeCare purchased specially equipped bariatric ambulances to transpor t patients whose weight exceeds 650 pounds, they created a customer service approach to meet the specia l needs of these patients. This approach worked so well, a similar program was developed to address 1 0