Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
It is refreshing to meet a person who loves what he does. Dr. Jorge Arango, a retired physician, operates Americare Nursing Services, PLLC. Americare enables parents and other older family members to age with dignity in the comfort of their own home while maintaining their independence.
Although Americare has been established for over 20 years as a leader in the industry, and has provided care for 1,000s of patients, the company is not resting on its laurels. Americare continues to find new and innovative ways to provide the best possible service to both patients and physicians. Americare provides skilled nursing care, PHC (Primary Home Care), and PAS (Personal Assistance Services) for the elderly persons in their own homes. They also provide specific specialized services that other organizations are not qualified or licensed to provide.
For instance, evidence based healthcare programs delivered by licensed, certified, healthcare providers, such as:
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)
Certified Health Coaching Specialist
Private Duty
Certified Wound Care (Specialists)
Certified Lymphedema Management (Specialists)
Behavioral Health (Licensed Personnel)
PHC & PCS
By providing these specialized services to benefit our aged loved ones, Americare enables patients to manage their chronic conditions more easily and effectively at home. Patients benefit by avoiding being institutionalized, avoiding unnecessary complications and hospitalizations, and being able to maintain close family ties and social connections by aging in the comfort of their own home.
Physicians benefit by being able to manage their patients more effectively, delivering better outcomes, and by attracting patients with more difficult chronic illnesses who need special care.
Dr. Arango and his late wife Martha Valencia originally purchased Americare Nursing Services in 1994. Unfortunately, she passed away two years ago, and Dr. Arango put aside his medical career and took over all operations. Dr. Arango says, “I remember her, and not a day goes by that I don’t miss her. It is difficult to overcome losing a loved one, especially someone who played such a large role both at home and at work. “My wife worked very hard for many years establishing this business; even though I helped in many ways, she was the one who primarily grew the company since I was busy studying medicine.”
It can be said that it was fate that brought them together. He said, “Martha came to my mother’s house along with a group of three ladies who were all senior citizens. She was totally out of place.”
He pointed out that he was attracted to Martha’s big brown eyes. “A couple of weeks later, I asked my mother to tell me a little more about the young lady who had come in with her old friends.” Fortunately for him, somebody gave him her phone number; he called Martha and that is how things got started.
The next step was to ask her out so he decided to show up at her apartment in Miami Beach in his Jeep. “I wanted to show off a little bit so I took the top off.” He says, “Miami is very pleasant and it was ideal weather for a convertible.”
Dr. Arango realized that she was not ready for that, because when you ride in a convertible, the wind is in your face. Thinking back, he admits that it was not the best thing for a first date although we had a great time. “I remember that I joked about telling her that I was going to go through an automatic carwash. Of course, I didn’t do it, but she was freaking out at the time.”
Even though Martha is no longer with him, he feels fortunate to have Alejandro, his son. “Alejandro was our only child; he had a difficult birth. Martha suffered quite a bit; it was a little bit traumatizing and I remember that Martha and I used to say that we were like the three musketeers.”
Dr. Arango proudly says that “Alejandro is a unique young man. He has always been mature for his age and I promised Martha that I would take good care of our son.”
Dr. Arango was born in Medellin, Colombia, in South America to Mariela and Ernesto Arango, a medical doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. He has happy memories of his father, “I was very young when he passed away, so it’s hard to remember much except the love he gave me. I remember that we were more like grandchildren to him, as he was already in his 50’s. What I remember about him is his tender loving care for all of us and the example he left us.”
His mother was all love, a hardworking woman, an entrepreneur, and very brave. “She was wonderful, very outgoing, and full of energy,” he said. Then there were sad memories, “My father passed away in 1972 when I was nine years old, so we emigrated to the United States and I’ve been here ever since then. I grew up in Miami Beach.”
After his mother’s passing and his marriage to Martha, they decided to move from Miami to Texas, where his brother, Dr. Luis Arango was practicing. “I enrolled in medical school and that’s how we ended up in this part of the country. I completed my pre-med in Miami, Florida and my medical training at the University of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon in Mexico. While I was in medical school I also helped run the Americare with my wife.”
“The healthcare industry constantly changes and often requires dramatic efforts to adapt. In 2000 the government radically changed the reimbursement system, which contributed to the failure of many healthcare organizations. We had to completely restructure our organization to be able to continue.
Now, with the Affordable Care Act in place, we have to restructure our healthcare organization once again. As a doctor I bring a unique perspective to the business. Because of the changes created by the Affordable Care Act, this combination of factors gives me not only a new perspective, but an opportunity to better serve our patients and doctors.”
Dr. Arango says, “One of the challenges that this industry faces is the massive cost of healthcare. This is costing our government a fortune. A contributing factor is unnecessary hospital readmissions. What can we do to decrease these re-hospitalizations? In order to fix that problem, this requires a new infrastructure and a new approach to healthcare. It’ll require the participation of the doctor, the different providers, such as hospitals, pharmacies, etc., cooperating together. That requires a culture change, and Healthcare Information Technology tools (such as analytics, remote patient monitoring, and EHRs/EMRs). This requires a multi-disciplinary approach.”
Dr. Arango’s skilled nursing organization provides tools such as telehealth/telemedicine (remote patient monitoring), and health coaching which addresses these new challenges. He has created a team of certified health coaches who monitor high-risk patients on a daily basis. He said, “There are patients that are very sick, with multiple diagnoses. In the Valley, there are a lot of patients with CHF, COPD, diabetes, and kidney failure. These types of patients consume 80 percent of the Medicare expenditure and I know that if we could better serve those patients, all of us would be doing a lot better.”
Americare Nursing Services uses information technology to provide better care. He said, “All of our nurses go out into the field with an iPad and we communicate securely through the web. We also use telemedicine (remote patient monitoring). Using this new technology they can get vital information such as blood pressure, glucose, weight and pulse oxygen saturation in real time while the patient is in the comfort of their own home. If the patients run into trouble or exhibit abnormal symptoms, we are immediately notified and take appropriate action. The Texas state government realizes this is the future and is helping push this.”
Even with his busy schedule he finds a way to participate with local non-profit organizations. “I am the chairman of an organization called Save a Leg, Save a Life which we support through our Wound Care Program. This organization brings awareness to the community of the tragic consequences of unnecessary amputations. 60% of these patients die within 5 years.”
What would you change of the past if you had a chance to do it? “I am proud of what we have. I have my son and I have no regrets.” How do you want to be remembered when you leave this earth? “A generous and fair man.”
Dr. Jorge Arango was selected to become the exclusive featured story in Texas Border Business because of his dedication and his constant desire to provide better healthcare services to the elderly in South Texas.
Dr. Jorge Arango is the Administrator for Americare Nursing Services located at 1103 N. Raul Longoria Road in San Juan, Texas 78589-3600 and he can be reached by phone at 956-783-7368 for more information; and check out their Ad on page 10.
Written by Roberto Hugo Gonzalez, the 2009 SBA Journalist of the Year Award Winner and a 2009 and 2012 Paul Harris Award recipient– TBB
