Trajedy spurs career of caring

from Spirit of America 2023

Daily grind pays off

The death of her father and brothers in a plane crash led Sue Wise in a new life direction, and she eventually started Take Home Health Care in Sarasota.

Apassion for caring for others’ needs, especially their health needs, was instilled in Sarasota’s Sue Wise at a young age by her parents.

She grew up in small-town Michigan on a farm that was run primarily by her father and brothers.

“(The farm) was very much based on Midwestern ethics and values with the way business was done,” she said. “It was very communitycentered.”

In 1977, her father and brothers were killed in a plane crash. The crash changed her perspective on life and drew her toward pursuing her own dreams in the nursing field.

“I wanted to focus on the private duty side,” she said. “I felt like that was going to give me a lot of opportunities and ways to grow personally and professionally. That’s when I decided to take a chance and open up the company when I moved to Sarasota.”

She started Take Care Home Health in 1995 with an office in Venice and four employees. Now, the company has four offices, one of which doubles as a care management office, and just under 400 employees. The offices are located in Sarasota, Venice, Bradenton and Port Charlotte.

LIFELONG PASSION

Wise’s passion for nursing was influenced by her mother, Ruth. She admired her mother’s passion for her job and the way she often went above and beyond for her patients at the children’s hospital where she worked.

One particular memory that stuck out to Wise involved a birthday cake. Her mother came home from work and told her about a boy in the hospital celebrating his birthday the next day but he didn’t have any family to celebrate with him. The pair worked together to bake a cake and make sure the boy would feel loved.

“I saw how much she loved what she did,” Wise said. “I decided to give nursing a shot. I have continued to love it. Nursing is a phenomenal career. There’s so much opportunity. It’s so rewarding to feel good about what you’ve done at the end of the day.” Wise attributes her success to her and her team’s work ethic and relationships they build with clients and each other.

“Part of it is continuing to have that rapport and relationship with clients,” she said. “That certainly helped the foundation of my business. It makes it more of a community-centered business where people know that we care and that we go to the extent we do to make sure they have what they need.”

INVOLVING FAMILY

Two of her daughters eventually expressed interest in joining the family business as they, too, had found a passion for health care. Courtney Snyder and Erika Borland have taken the responsibilities of president and vice president respectively.

Both Snyder and Borland have held other jobs and pursued other interests before deciding that the family business was what they were looking for as a career.

“They love the community,” Wise said. “They love the entrepreneurial side of the business where you can create and grow. That’s the wonderful thing about the country we live in. It’s in our hands as to how far we want to push it to make it successful and what direction we want to take it.”

Wise said working with her daughters has been an enjoyable experience.

“I have not found it to be challenging,” she said. “Some people say ‘does that make it hard?’ No, I think it makes it enjoyable. It’s an added treat that I spend so much time at work, and I also get to see two of my daughters.”

Working with Snyder and Bowland has allowed her to shift her focus from the business side to her

About Take Care Home Health

The family-owned and operated company specializes in at-home healthcare and meeting their patients where they are at.

About 65% to 70% of the company’s clients require help with their every day needs outside of medical care, what founder Sue Wise categorizes as unskilled care. The remaining percentage require skilled care, which covers all medical care that a nursing professional would have the skills to do.

“Because we have such a large base of employees, we’re able to provide both skilled and unskilled,” Wise said. “If something were to happen to someone we were providing unskilled care to such as needing wound care or care after surgery, we are able to flip into the skilled care in addition to the unskilled. They won’t have to seek out services elsewhere.” true passion — caring for those who need it.

The two handle more of the business side such as the company’s website and the potential to pursue additional services.

“I tend to like to be able to be with the clients and deal with the nursing issues,” Wise said. “(Working with them) allows me to focus and hunker down on that while they deal with the direction the company is going and what we might look at differently.”