Dear iCare Health Network Staff, Residents and Families:
April 1, 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of our organization. I want to take a moment to recognize this amazing milestone and thank you for your role in making this organization what it is today.
iCare’s roots originated when I and other investors purchased our first five skilled nursing homes in Connecticut on April 1, 1999 from a State-appointed Receiver. In December 2003, we purchased four additional Connecticut nursing homes, also from a State receivership process. During this time of the acquisition, Connecticut had a clear need for a long-term care provider that could care for individuals with certain behavioral health conditions.
To meet this need, in addition to providing care for traditional short-term rehabilitation and long-term residents, we created a behavioral health program to provide skilled nursing care for this underserved population. This type of behavioral health programming was unprecedented within a skilled nursing facility. Creating and continuing this service today in many of our care centers has created a care pathway for individuals who often experience homelessness or have other challenging problems.
In 2013, we were selected to open the first nursing home of its kind in the country in the form of “60 West,” providing humane and stigma-free care to residents with very complex needs. In 2019, we had the opportunity to add Parkville Care Center to our network of companies, which turned out to be a perfect and seamless fit. In 2021, we expanded to Massachusetts, meeting another unmet need when MissionCare at Holyoke was added. We are currently working on an opportunity to operate another MissionCare nursing center in the state of Vermont and have plans to expand to other states.
Through the years, many people have asked me the origin of the name “iCare.” The story goes that my young daughter found me brainstorming a thousand different names and asked me why I was spending so many hours to find just the right name. And I said, because “I care.” She replied, “then call it iCare.” And so here we are today, expressing through our name each day that individually and collectively we care about every resident.
I could not be prouder and more humbled of what iCare Health Network has become. By our calculations, in the over 9,000 days since April 1, 1999, we have proudly served and cared for over 30,000 residents. In 2024, we are a leading provider of skilled nursing and long-term care in New England, we enrich lives day in and day out, and we have distinguished ourselves across the country as an innovator and groundbreaker.
With the recent global pandemic and the new and unique challenges that our profession faces every day, we have been tested and have prevailed by continuing to move forward through leadership in the industry. Thank you to the care center staff and all those doing the work to enrich the lives of the residents we serve, day in and day out. Please keep doing what you do. Together, let us embrace the opportunities of the next 25 years of iCare Health Network.
Enriching Lives Together,
Chris Wright
President & CEO, iCare Health Network
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