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A Message from Robby, James, and David

We are in an exciting time as URS and Breast Pump Depot become part of the PHS team. When we were first approached by PHS and saw the opportunity to combine our top-notch reputations in pediatric home care and bring our patients the comprehensive services offered by PHS, we knew we had to dig in. 

Thank you for the amazing work you do for URS and Breast Pump Depot, and for your continued effort as we work together to care for the nation’s most precious patients. You are valued and bring a priceless dynamic to our team. We look forward to continuing to invest in you as we bring our teams together. 

You are what makes this organization successful. That does not change with this partnership.  You are the lifeblood of the organization and the reason our patients are safe, happy, and healthy. 

The alignment of the mission, culture, and core beliefs between PHS and URS/Breast Pump Depot is uncanny. The heart of both organizations is that of care and support with a patient-first mentality. We will go far together and look forward to the shared teaching and learning we will do alongside the PHS team.

Everyone will be working hard to ensure clear communication as we integrate our two organizations into one. Please use this page as a resource for you to get answers to common questions and submit questions that you do not see listed here. 

-Robby, David, and James

A Message from Adam:

Welcome to the PHS team! We are so glad to be working with you and are looking forward to getting to know you. 

Our priority throughout this integration will be to limit disruptions to you, our patients, and our referral partners. We will work efficiently to bring our teams together and bring the best care to every child who needs us, all while having fun and working hard. While we aim to set up an infrastructure that allows for consistent processes, workflows, and our future growth, we will keep the structure of your in place as it exists today, to start. Back to our goal of as little disruption as possible, changes will be paced to allow your team to continue the phenomenal work you do today of taking care of our patients.    

 

We were attracted to your organization for the similarities in values and patient-centered mentality. We look forward to great conversations as we discover more about each of you and your organization’s processes. 

One of the most energizing pieces of this new partnership is the opportunities we have to learn from one another. Please ask questions, share ideas, and stay plugged in as we jump into this exciting time in our organizations’ histories.  

– Adam, CEO of Pediatric Home Service 

Getting to Know PHS

The Where and What of PHS Services

PHS currently supports patients across 10 states. We aim to be the #1 trusted provider for our patient population in the areas where we serve. We know the complex patients we care for have many varied needs, and our goal is to be able to support these patients with the most wrap-around care available across the country. Not all locations offer every service at this time, and we are actively working to expand our reach and support.

Some of your PHS Partners

PHS firmly believes in the value and benefit of bringing our teams together. We are stronger, smarter, and overall, better, together. We know that this process will bring up a variety of questions. Use this section below to identify some of the key people you’ll be working with throughout the integration. While not an exhaustive list, this will help move your questions to the right person who can best answer or find you an answer.

Click on the pictures to start an email with each individual.

Growth Team

Adam Nielsen- CEO
Andy Willhelm- Sr. Dir. of Business Development

Finance

Drue Pounds- CFO
Jeff Hood- Controller
Jessica Schmidt- Dir. of Financial Planning & Analysis
Kristi Besse- Director of Revenue Cycle

Legal, Compliance & Quality

Cameo Zehnder- CAO
Joyce Bulman- VP of Quality & Compliance

Human Resources

Lianne King- EVP Human Resource
Crystal Stiebler- HR Generalist
Hannah Varness- Sr .Benefits Analyst

Supply Chain

Chad Svihel- Chief Supply Chain Officer
Amy Zuber- Director of Purchasing

Information Technology

Glenn Galloway- EVP IT and Integration
Rick Mueller- Sr. Dir. of IT
Jorge Garzon- IT Manager

Sales (Outreach) and Marketing

Donna Filar- EVP of Outreach
Dana Johnson- Sr. Dir of Mktg & Comms

Regional Leadership

Becki Long- VP of Ops- Upper Midwest
Joe Rodriguez- VP of Operations- TX
John Reed- VP of Operations- Ohio River Valley and Great Plains
Christy Fell- VP of Clinical Operations - Nursing
Emily Boyd- VP of Business Administration- Nursing

External Communication

Patient Family & Referral Sources

We’re sharing this exciting news with staff immediately and will be quickly moving on to external communications with referral sources and patient families within the next couple of weeks.

Our announcement to external audiences (referral sources and patient families) will be a letter indicating that we are in the process of positioning ourselves for more comprehensive services and that we are partnering with Pediatric Home Service to make that happen. We will come out later in the year with a more formal announcement around service line expansion and a more in-depth introduction to the partnership with PHS and any company name updates.

We will work with the marketing team on all referral-focused communications to keep the URS and Breast Pump Depot teams in the driver’s seat with messaging.

We will keep staff informed as we continue to advance the communication efforts.

  • Link to the initial patient family letter (will link once finalized)
  • Link to the initial referral source letter (will link once finalized)

Media

The press release will be sent to media contacts later in the year once we have made actionable progress on our integration efforts and have opportunities to share more information about the strength of our organizations coming together.

We will share a link to the press release here once completed.

URS & Breast Pump Depot Online Presence

We want to start by learning from each other and developing a collaborative integration plan. As such, we will not be making changes to the website or social channels until that time. We will communicate with employees as we advance our integration plans. 

Don’t see an answer to a question you have in the FAQs below? Fill out this form and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Employee

How will my job change? -

This is a big transition, and everyone at PHS is excited and honored to be walking this path with the teams at URS and Breast Pump Depot. We are sensitive to how change feels, and while there will undoubtedly be change (processes, technology, additional services) in the early days of our partnership you can anticipate business as usual in your day-to-day work.

The team at PHS is eager to work alongside Robby, David, and James to identify the right way to bring about effective organizational change. Some roles/departments will lend themselves to alignment under an existing PHS department. We will communicate as far in advance as possible with any restructuring changes that will take place in the future.

What new opportunities might I have? -

As both organizations plan for growth and a new future new opportunities may present themselves. Right now, the exact details are still being developed, and your leaders will be a good resource to talk about your ideas of what that could mean for you and your department.

Will I get the same pay and benefits? -

The long-term goal is to simplify and align pay and benefits where it is possible for all employees at PHS.

Your welcome packet contained information about the new 401K program that will go into effect on 6/6/2023. Your current healthcare benefits will stay in place through the end of this calendar year.

PHS offers pay that is competitive in the marketplace and that matches the experience of our employees. We will work toward parity for employees and will be sure to communicate before, during, and after any changes.

What are the PHS benefit programs- PTO Policy, Healthcare Coverage, Maternity Leave Policy? -

We understand each of these benefits are critical parts of your total rewards package as a member of any team. The HR department will be onsite in Waco hosting HR overview sessions for the team in July or August. Teams meetings will be available for remote employees for Q&A following the main presentation.

The team will not transition to the PHS PTO policy until 2024 when we move into a unified payroll, time entry system. and healthcare coverage.

Will I get to keep my tenure from URS and Breast Pump Depot? -

Yes. You will maintain your tenure when you transition into PHS.

How will this change our company culture? -

One of the main reasons PHS was attracted to URS and Breast Pump Depot was how closely our heritage mirrored each other and even more important that our patient-centric heart was the same.

You can certainly expect changes such as new training, technology systems, and even some process changes to ensure our teams can work together in a seamless fashion, and you can also rest assured that changes won’t all be introduced at once. We will do our best to ensure the pace of change is appropriate.

PHS maintains a culture of growth. We eagerly seek out opportunities to bring more care to more kids and look forward to continuing these efforts with your help. We know that our teams care for children with medical complexities better than anyone else, now, we get to do all we can to bring our services to as many patients across the country as possible.

growth- efficiency- great place to work

Will we still have the same company wide events as we have had in the past? -

Having fun is an important part of who we are and is one of our Guiding Principles. We hold formal and informal events throughout the year and hope to incorporate all our sites in some of our events as well as encourage and enhance the traditional events at each location. We are committed to fostering a healthy culture and understand the value of making time for employees to connect.

We will introduce you to PHS employee engagement activities hosted by our culture champions, quarterly national all-staff meetings, and employee recognition programs. It is so important to us that in addition to these events and activities each office maintain a local flair to events that represent the team dynamics unique to that region. We will find a balance of incorporation of PHS events and activities with the ongoing fun that the URS/Breast Pump Depot teams have enjoyed historically.

Will I have to move to a new location? -

While PHS has locations across Texas, we want to ensure we maintain office locations that work well to support the needs of our patients and our business. We will be identifying that plan in the early months of our partnership and will keep the team involved as more information becomes available.

Will my hours change? -

We have no intention of adjusting working hours and office schedules. If changes are needed in the future to accommodate patient needs, we will communicate with the team as early and thoroughly as possible.

Will my day-to-day work change significantly? -

We love the way you deliver care to your patients, and we do not want that to change. We will, however, look for opportunities to bring resources to your team as quickly as possible. As new tools are made available to your team, thorough training and communication will accompany the rollout.

Organizational

Will this improve our service to patient families? -

You will still be offering the same great service that you have always focused on providing. We know our partnership will only complement the great work you already do. We will continue to seek opportunities to streamline care for our medically complex patient population through the addition of more service lines such as respiratory across all of your territories, nursing, and infusion therapy.

What benefits will our referral sources experience? -

PHS fully appreciates the strong relationships URS and Breast Pump Depot have established with your referral sources. It is obvious your referral sources have grown to value your expertise, accessibility, and responsiveness. We do not want to disrupt those relationships.

Working with you, we will explore some of the synergies that may further improve the patient experience. Some of the additional services we can bring alongside the ones you already provide will broaden your platform of care. Some of the additional support we may be able to provide should help many concentrate their focus on care for their patients and what they are really good at. And some of the new systems and technology should make jobs easier, create efficiencies and increase quality and accuracy.

How will leadership change? -

Robby, James, and David will all be staying on as local leadership.

Each will have a new title as they integrate into the PHS leadership team.

Robby- VP of Operations, TX- reporting to Adam Nielsen, PHS CEO
James- VP of Government & Payer Strategies
David- VP Breast Pump Depot Division

Other than Robby, reporting structures will not change immediately. We will however look for opportunities to create synergies between like teams across the URS and Breast Pump Depot and PHS locations within the first month.

Will our company name change? -

We will start our partnership by maintaining your existing organizational names. As we work towards operational readiness for the larger integration elements with our EHR systems, we will look to transition your name to Pediatric Home Service. Breast Pump Depot will maintain its distinct name given the audience served.

Your company name is Pediatric- do you only serve patients under the age of 18? -

PHS cares for patients of all ages. Our focus is on pediatrics because they are complex and require specialized care that our team is uniquely positioned to deliver. We are proud to have patients into adulthood still on service with us. We will not discharge a patient simply due to their age. Sometimes, insurance will drive this requirement, and we will do all we can to ensure consistent care for our patient population.

Will decisions be made differently now? -

In the early weeks and months, most of the day-to-day functions will not see significant changes. In many cases, it will be business as usual. Of course, with any partnership like this, there will be some changes. Some of the changes will evolve over time, some haven’t even been identified yet and won’t be until we encounter situations that may require a new approach. Initially, it may feel a little different with the PHS senior leadership, and our board of directors coming alongside your team to make higher-level decisions. You will also likely see some differences in a very disciplined strategic planning process.

Will the organizational structure change in any way? -

URS and Breast Pump Depot have already proven to be successful with your current structure. We don’t anticipate significant changes other than the departmental alignment and leadership transitions that were mentioned in earlier questions.

However, as both organizations grow there may be some natural and common-sense changes that we will work together to accomplish.

What are some examples of the new resources that will be available to URS and Breast Pump Depot? -

One of the advantages of any partnership is learning best practices from each other and sharing resources. We anticipate a lot of cross-pollination between each organization. We are greatly looking forward to a future that has all locations using the same systems and benefiting from shared resources.

Will our company goals and budget be affected? -

PHS will be looking at current goals and aligning them with the growth goals we have in place across the country. PHS will be working alongside management and the Board of Directors to make any modifications to existing goals.

What processes will change? -

While we don’t know about all the changes coming our way, as always, we will be working to become more efficient and more effective. Fully utilizing a unified EHR system is one example where we will focus time in the coming year.

Transaction Q&A

Who is PHS (company and people)?  

PHS is an independent children’s home healthcare company. We are here for one reason: helping kids with medical complexities live their best life – at home, with their families, where they belong. We provide respiratory therapy, equipment and supplies, infusion therapy and pharmacy, enteral nutrition, home care nursing, skilled nursing visits, mental health, and clinical education.

Our mission statement, guiding principles, and cultural attributes are genuine descriptions of who we are, what guides us, and what drives PHS.

Mission Statement
We make a difference in the life of every family we serve by taking care of the child so that children with medical complexities can achieve their best lives at home and in their communities

Guiding Principles
– Celebrate every day wins (We celebrate the success of our co-workers & company)
– Answer every call (We make ourselves available to our families & patients first)
– Start and end with the family (We care compassionately for our patients & their families)
– Work as a team (We coordinate our efforts with each other)
– Get better every day (We are always learning & improving)
– Lead the way for pediatric home care (We advocate for quality homecare in the broader healthcare community)
– Do what’s effective – lose the rest (We balance simplicity & effectiveness)
– Communicate without fear (We ask for feedback and offer it thoughtfully)
– Find a way (We resourcefully find a solution)

Watch the video linked in the question text to learn more about PHS.

What is the goal of URS and Breast Pump Depot for PHS? -

PHS is eager to learn more about the staff and become one team. This will involve transition and transformation for both organizations. While it promises an exciting future, there is no denying there will be some challenges along the way. Our goal is to navigate the changes with as little disruption as possible and make it a positive experience for everyone. We are also excited to continue to grow in each location where the company expands; both geographically and in the services we provide.

401K Transition

Why are we transitioning the 401K plan when no other benefits will be changing, yet? -

Since we are in the middle of the calendar year, transitioning medical benefits would have caused an undue burden to the team, but transitioning to the PHS 401K allows us to eliminate any waiting period for new staff, and take our first step towards integrating our organizations.

What options do I have for my existing 401K funds? -

July Services will send information to all participants with a balance. You have several options for how you will use your existing 401K funds.

1. Transfer the balance to your new PHS Empower account. The funds will be invested based on your elections. Empower will help you with this transition. Call 1-888-737-4480 and Empower can help you with the consolidation. A rollover to PHS’s 401(k) plan typically takes a few weeks to process.
2. Deposit the funds into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) account you already have in place or plan to start.
3. You can take a disbursement of the funds (this option may include taxes and penalties).

How do I start participating in the 401(k) plan? -

As a new employee you will be automatically enrolled in the plan unless you decide to affirmatively opt-out. This process typically takes around 30 days to implement for new employees.

You’ll be automatically enrolled at an annual before-tax contribution rate of 2% (you can change this amount on your own if you’d like to contribute more or less).

On an annual basis, the plan also automatically increases your contribution amount by 1% to a maximum of 15% (you can opt-out of this annual auto-feature if desired).

When can I sign up for my Empower account?  

You will be able to access the Empower website within 2 weeks of 6/6/2023 to create your account and select your contribution percent. Click the question text to view the resource guide.

How do I register for my new Empower account?  

Use the instructions linked in the question text to walk through the process.

Use your personal email address to create your account.

What is the company 401K match? -

PHS will match 50% of the first 6% of the annual contributions that you make to your account. (If you contribute at least 6% then you’ll receive an additional 3% from PHS).

The plan allows you to make both traditional (pre-tax) and/or Roth (post-tax) contributions.

What if I have questions about the investment options in PHS’s 401(k) plan lineup? -

PHS partners with Ryan Financial Group as its plan advisor and their team is available to answer your individual questions about investment options and retirement readiness. Contact

Ryan Wahlund, Director of Retirement Plan Services at ryan.wahlund@ryanfingroup.com or 651-253-7735.