1. August 2010
COMMUNITY NEWS
Continued on page 2
Daniel Birch runs the East Van Nurse Next Door franchise along with his father, Andrew.
by Paul Reid
Ever since the baby boom of post-World
War II (1945), the population of seniors
has increased dramatically. This is quite
serious when you consider the statistics
and what it could mean for a health care
industry already bursting at the seams.
Since 2001, to the relief of seniors, their
children, the health care industry, today’s
government and perhaps generations to
come, Nurse Next Door has been offering
affordable, loving care to seniors in their
homes.
Today, Nurse Next Door has 37 franchises
and counting right across Canada. Local
franchise owner, Daniel Birch, met with
the RCC News to explain more about
Nurse Next Door and the secrets to their
success.
Daniel Birch has been running the
Vancouver East franchise for nine months
now, along with his father Andrew Birch,
MD. Daniel, with his business expertise,
heads up the business component of the
company, bringing with him years of
entrepreneurial experience. He graduated
from the University of Victoria with a
bachelor of commerce degree specializing
in entrepreneurship. Andrew, with his
medical expertise, supports and advises
on all health issues related to local home
care clients. As a family doctor, he runs
a medical practice in Vancouver and
has over 30 years of extensive medical
experience.
Nurse Next Door Taking care of seniors at home
Eating Out: El Caracol Page 5Celebrate a Bountiful Harvest with
Your Neighbours Page 3
World Hoop Day Page 10 Chinese Seniors Celebrate with the
Community Page 13

2. RENFREW COLLINGWOOD COMMUNITY NEWSAugust 20102
Nurse Next Door: Continued from page 1
Seeing the need first hand for
seniors home care
Danny and Andrew became acutely
aware of the lack of home health-care
services in Vancouver when Andrew’s
mother/Danny’s grandmother
was in need of such care. The two
were prompted to purchase one
of the Nurse Next Door home care
franchises, one of the fastest-growing
franchises in North America.
“Nurse Next Door is taking a
tremendous amount of pressure off of
a hemorrhaging health-care system.”
says Daniel Birch. With health
expenditures accounting for half of
most provincial budgets, Nurse Next
Door takes stress off of our medical
system, freeing up beds in hospitals
and giving people an alternative to
seniors’ homes with long wait lists.
Seniors’ needs will only increase
along with the senior population
which, according to Statistics
Canada, will grow from 13% of the
total population in 2006 to 21% by
2026. With this rapid growth in
the senior population, up against
government cut-backs and a shortage
of beds in senior facilities, the home
care model of Nurse Next Door
addresses a growing need.
Care helps seniors stay at home
Offering three levels of care―
friendly, family and complex―Nurse
Next Door offers all of the same
services that a seniors’ facility does.
The friendly level of care includes
such things as transportation and
meal care. The family care includes
help bathing and changing. The
complex level includes medication
administration and more advanced
medical needs. The Nurse Next Door
also connects those needing live-in
support with caregivers.
Nurse Next Door services allow
seniors who don’t want to enter
a facility to receive assistance in
their home. “The number-one fear
of seniors,” says Daniel, “is losing
independence and losing their home.
Many seniors are put in a home when
they may only need a couple of hours
of assistance a day.”
Secrets to Nurse Next Door’s
success
The demand for their services is
part of the company’s success, yet
demand alone does not fully explain
why Nurse Next Door is number one
in the North American home health-
care industry or why they were
ranked the number-one company in
BC to work for in 2009. If one looks
under the hood of Nurse Next Door,
they will find the finely tuned engine
of innovative practices, beliefs and
technologies that has gotten them to
the top so fast.
Of its innovative practices, the Nurse
Next Door guarantees to be open 24
hours per day, seven days a week
for service and easy access. Are you
wondering how mom is doing? You
can give them a call anytime and you
will be updated on how things are
going. Nurse Next Door also uses a
custom-designed automated system
that monitors clients’ needs and
ensures that they are being attended
to on schedule, 24 hours per day.
Nurse Next Door uses another
innovative practice, questionnaires
to match caregivers with clients
based on personality, interests, skills,
schedule and language. Once they
have found the perfect caregiver for
you, Nurse Next Door also tries their
best to have the same caregiver for
the same client each day. “This was a
problem when my grandma needed
home assistance,” says Daniel. The
caregivers were always different and
she didn’t feel comfortable around
these strangers. At Nurse Next Door,
the bond between caregiver and
client are of utmost importance.
“We guarantee that the client will
be happy with the caregiver that we
provide. If they are not happy, the
client just has to call us and we’ll
make a change as soon as their next
visit. No problems, no hassle.”
Although Nurse Next Door does
provide care, they also promote client
independence. ”We try to get the
person involved in what is happening
as much as is possible, as opposed to
just doing it for them. For instance, if
the person is able to accompany the
caregiver on a shopping trip, they are
encouraged to do so. If food needs to
be prepared, the client is encouraged
to help as much as they are capable.”
Of their philosophies, the most
important at the Nurse Next Door
is that of the core purpose, which is:
Making Lives Better through Home
Health Care. According to Ken Sim
and John DeHart, co-founders of
Nurse Next Door, “this is the soul
of the company, this is why we do
what we do. It is why we started the
company and it is a reminder of why
we come to work every day. Because
of these core values, our employees
feel that Nurse Next Door is an
exciting and special place to work.
Because of this, our clients receive the
best home health care service and
care in our industry.”
Another secret to Nurse Next
Door’s success is that the company
admires their people. This means
that, next to their client’s happiness,
the happiness of the staff is just
as important. They believe that
happy employees mean happy
clients, so they strive to create a
work environment where their
team members can flourish and
succeed to their highest potential.
Teamwork, personal responsibility,
trust, communication and fun are
priorities for the staff.
An additional philosophy that helps
keep Nurse Next Door operating at
peak performance involves wowing
the customers. “Wowing customers
with our compassion and service
is our specialty. The relentless
commitment to customer service
and friendly staff is the Nurse Next
Door way.”
The Mommy Shift
In addition to leading a service
revolution in health care, Nurse
Next Door is also tapping into a new
segment workers―stay at home
moms. Dubbed The Mommy Shift,
Nurse Next Door has developed
a program for moms who can go
through an in-house companionship
training program and receive shifts
between the hours of 9:00 am to
2:00 pm, allowing them to both
drop off and pick up their kids and
care for neighbourhood seniors in
between. Those participating in
The Mommy Shift are also eligible
to take any days off throughout the
year their children are scheduled off
school (such as Pro-D days) as well
as winter and summer holidays.
“We are always hiring,” says Daniel.
Their caregivers are professionally
screened using a multiple interview
process; they also need a minimum
of three professional references and
an up-to-date criminal record check.
Nurse Next Door hires people who
are natural customer service leaders
and will provide ongoing caregiving
training and education
Those seeking either assistance
from Nurse Next Door or those
wanting to explore employment
opportunities with Nurse Next
Door can visit their website at www.
nursenextdoor.com. Those in the
East Van area wishing to contact
Danny directly can reach him at
604-961-7883. Assessments for
clients are free, with no obligations.
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