ViaQuest Offers Nursing Education to Other DD Providers

ViaQuest Nursing Services has a professional, dedicated nursing team to assist in meeting your training needs.  We have a number of long term nurses that have dedicated their professional lives to individuals with developmental disabilities.  The wealth of knowledge the ViaQuest Nursing Services team possess is of great value in providing day to day services as well as educating staff of the various medical issues. The trainings that ViaQuest offers to the staff and other providers assists everyone in knowing how best to understand and gain knowledge in working with individuals with developmental disabilities.  We offer the listed trainings on a routine basis and will customize trainings to meet your needs:

•  DODD Certified Medication Administration 1, 2, and 3, both initial and renewal classes;

•  CPR and First Aid classes;

•  DODD RN Train the Trainer classes;

•  DODD Train the Trainer for County Boards, providers, Program Administrators, LPN’s, and other non-nurses;

•  RN Trainer Conferences; and

•  Customized training to meet your needs.

We partner with approximately 50 Providers throughout Ohio in serving individuals with developmental disabilities by providing frontline training and oversight of unlicensed personnel who are administering medications.  We provide Health Services Coordination by reviewing medical appointments, follow up physician visits, hospitalizations, lab-work and more.  We collaborate with the Provider to ensure measures are taken to provide quality services.  We provide training to the provider and will tailor training to meet the needs of the Individual and/or Provider.

We have also initiated a partnership with Heritage Pharmacy to further assist in meeting the training needs of providers/individuals with developmental disabilities.  We can provide training on a variety of commonly observed syndromes, medications and a number of topics to assist you in optimizing your learning and in turn further improve your service delivery to those you serve.   We have the ability to provide training throughout the State as we travel to all Regions of Ohio offering Train the Trainer, Medication Administration Classes and new in 2014 we will be taking our RN Trainer Conference on the road as well.

We have a dedicated team of approximately 25 nurses serving providers all throughout Ohio.  To learn more about the services offered by ViaQuest Nursing Services, please visit ViaQuestNursingServices.com.

2013 Hamilton County Department of Developmental Disabilities Services 1st Annual Recognition Awards

Hamilton County Department of Developmental Disabilities Services Multi-System Team had their first annual recognition party on December the 13th. The Multi System team works with those Individuals identified as needing additional behavioral and clinical supports due to dual diagnosis.

Erica Watson, Program Director for ViaQuest Residential Services in the South Region was nominated for the award for her hard work and dedication to Individuals served by the Hamilton County Department of Developmental Disabilities Services Multi-System Team.  Erica was one of the first recipients to be recognized for her efforts.  Two Individuals who are provided services by VRS were also recognized as well.  These two Individuals were inducted into the first class of the Hamilton County DDS Hall of Fame.  Both of these individuals have been extremely successful within the community, largely due to the Circle of Care facilitated by ViaQuest Residential Services.  We are all proud of Erica, for her hard work!

ViaQuest Clinical Services: Your Source for Behavioral and Mental Health Supports!

Behavioral and mental health supports are in high need but yet hard to find, which is why one of ViaQuest Clinical Services’ main focuses is helping individuals in need find the correct support. ViaQuest Clinical Services (VPBS) provides unique and individualized treatment services to children, adolescents and adults in the community. Our staff help children, teens and adults deal with issues such as abuse, adoption, anxiety, depression, anger, social issues, self-image, addictions and more. Our clinical service team partners not only with other ViaQuest business lines but also with schools and other businesses in the community to provide the best support possible.

UTILIZING INTERNAL SERVICES

VPBS works with the other ViaQuest business lines (Day, Residential, and Employment Services) to provide supports to individuals with mental and behavioral health concerns. By working together with Day Services and Residential Services, we are able to not only provide mental health services on-site to the individuals, but also provide training for staff related to mental health issues and how these issues affect specific individuals who also have developmental disabilities. These services help the individuals directly and improve the quality of services provided by the Day and Residential staff. In addition, we work with Employment Services to provide vocational assessments and collaborate on providing the vocational supports that individuals need to be successful in their employment opportunities. 

PARTNERING UP

ViaQuest Clinical Services also partners with various organizations throughout the community. We understand that schools, hospitals, long-term care facilities and other organizations have a need for behavioral and mental health supports, but do not always have the ability to provide these services themselves. We have developed such partnerships in order to increase access to behavioral and mental health services, but have also provided training to the organizations to increase employees’ awareness and skills to manage these issues. We partner with schools such as Summit Academy and Richard Allen Schools, to provide on-site services to their students. We also work in long-term care facilities, such as Garden Park Health Care, Diplomat Healthcare, Aristocrat West, and West Park Neurology, to provide services to their residents. In addition, VPBS has developed partnerships with Dublin Springs Hospital, Molina Healthcare of Ohio and North Coast Behavioral Health to provide transitional support and aftercare services for individuals discharging from hospitals.

COMMUNITY BASED APPROACH

Utilizing community-based programs has been shown to decrease behavioral and mental health issues, and increase daily functioning for individuals. We have found that our clients experience the most success when we work with them in their own home, school or workshop setting, where they have the most difficulties. Because of this, our therapists and mental health case managers are truly “community-based” and spend the majority of their time in the field working with individuals. By taking this approach, our clinical staff are able to see the environments and relationships that our clients struggle with, and can help them to learn skills to manage challenges “in the moment.” For example, when we work with children in their school and home settings, we can help to improve the interactions between them and their teachers, parents, peers, and siblings.

ViaQuest Clinical Services offers a variety of outpatient services, including assessment, therapy, CPST/case management, psychiatry, behavior modification, sexual offender/risk assessments and skill building groups. Our goal is to always provide the highest quality of services in the way that meets what each individual needs. If you have questions about our services, are interested in making a referral or developing a partnership, please feel free to contact Colin Fowler, VPBS Executive Director, Colin.Fowler@ViaQuestInc.com. 

Dancing for Our Stars Winners Raise $7,000 for Levy Campaign!

The annual ‘Dancing For Our Stars’ Event hosted by the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities raised more than $20,000.

The fundraising event is modeled after the hit TV show, Dancing With The Stars. It was held on November 16th in Fairfield, OH and showcases 10 local ‘celebrity’ couples as they dance and compete.

Julian Robb, Director for ViaQuest Residential Services and Watoiya Williams, Operations Director of ViaQuest Day Services won the competition and took home the coveted Mirror Ball trophy. In total the winning duo raised more than $7,000.

The money raised goes to the Friends of Citizens with Disabilities’ Political Action Committee serving the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities, based in Hamilton, OH. Friends of Citizens with Disabilities’ Political Action Committee is responsible for raising all funds needed to run a successful ballot initiative for the Butler County Board of DD. 

The money raised from the event will go toward the Butler County Board of DD levy. The levy is set to take place in the near future with plans for paying for early intervention services for children from birth to age 3, residential services for people living in the community, nursing and day habilitation services for people in the community and transportation for those served in the adult center.

Julian and Watoiya would like to dedicate their win to all the people served through ViaQuest and Butler County Board of DD.

“This special group of individuals gives us the inspiration to do our best in all we do.  And while we were preparing our dance program they gave us the confidence to look past our faults and focus on our attitude. That was the key for us to rise to the occasion and give our best dance performance when we need it. We are truly grateful for our ViaQuest Family.” -Julian and Watoiya

The event debuted in 2011 and has since raised almost $45,000 for the PAC.

For more information on the Butler County of Developmental Disabilities, please see the links below:

www.butlerdd.org

www.facebook.com/ButlerCountyDD

Columbus Business First’s Q&A: ViaQuest CEO on creating 350 jobs in home health care

Carrie Ghose from Columbus Business First interviewed our CEO, Rich Johnson. Look at what he said about ViaQuest:

Q&A: ViaQuest CEO on creating 350 jobs in home health care

ViaQuest Inc. has more than survived from having its credit cut off during the 2008 financial crisis.

The Dublin-based home health, behavioral health and disability services company is on track for $62 million in revenue this year, a 5 percent increase over 2012. Since the beginning of 2012, ViaQuest has added more than 350 jobs throughout Ohio and the Pittsburgh market.

Rich Johnson founded the company 20 years ago focusing solely on services to clients with developmental disabilities. As recounted in Columbus Business First’s CFO of the Year awards, when the recession hit ViaQuest shifted from housing clients in facilities to all home-based care, while adding new services in general home health care and hospice.

Here’s an edited and condensed version of my talk with Johnson about the company’s growth:

Q: It was a fiscal crisis that spurred you to expand service lines.

A: As many companies and our nation as a whole suffered from the financial crisis in 2008 it made us look at what we were doing and where services we’re offered. Being rock bottom from a financial perspective made us think strategically.

Q: Talk about where that decision has landed you today. Why has home health been growing so fast?

A: Specifically the baby boom generation wants to remain in the community in their homes versus going to a long-term care community. Our current administration here in Ohio, Gov. (John) Kasich, has put forth several initiatives to help seniors continue to live in their homes.

(Also), people with mental health issues are typically not as physically healthy. We started as a behavioral health company. These are people who tend to be more costly. As we try to get our arms around the cost of health care, this is a place where we’ve seen growth because of our particular expertise

One other area of growth we’ve seen, … we’ve added quite a few jobs for people with developmental disabilities as well as returning veterans.

Q: So you’re employing former clients.

A: They could be clients of ours; they could be clients of other programs. We are supplying them with jobs that lead them to a career. We just formed a partnership with OfficeMax – we are their employment arm for people with developmental disabilities throughout the state of Ohio.

Q: What’s the impact of the Affordable Care Act and payment reform on your industry going forward?

A: There’s a lot of difficult discussions on how to revamp how providers are reimbursed. I think it’s going to be imperative that we have strong relationships and collaborations with different systems (such as long-term care providers and hospitals). It really is making us look at every aspect of our business to find where we can deliver the highest quality care in the lowest-cost setting.

Q: Is the growth you’ve experienced going to be sustainable?

A: I believe we’ll grow even faster. With the demographic of the baby-boom population it’s just going to expand. … They’re a lot more informed of the choices they have.

One of the big challenges is finding the professionals from a nursing perspective. The services we deliver are going to grow at a fairly fast clip.

Q: Do your people get recruited away?

A: It’s a very, very competitive market. We’re all vying for the same top quality clinicians. One thing we really focus on is the culture of the company and making sure it’s an environment where people like to work and are challenged. We do have lower turnover than the industry average

You can read the online article: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2013/11/qa-viaquest-ceo-on-creating-350-jobs.html?page=all

 

ViaQuest is a recipient of the Inc. Hire Power Award

ViaQuest is a 2013 recipient of the Hire Power Award for our commitment to job creation in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In fact, we were honored for being the third-leading job creator within the healthcare field nationwide.

While this is a significant achievement for ViaQuest, it more importantly is a testament to the positive impact we are having with the people and in the communities we serve. Growth is only possible when we effectively address the needs of individuals and families through our home health and hospice, mental and behavioral health, and developmental disabilities services.

Our success is tied to our people, whose expertise, commitment and dedication empowers others to function independently and live their best lives.

If you have not seen the news about our recognition, you can view the announcement:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/11/prweb11357814.htm

 

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