Michigan, Gasoline Prices & The Shakeout For Home Health Care

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Michigan home care workers make 11.5 million visits a year, driving an estimated 161.3 million miles, according to the National Association for Homecare & Hospice.

With many of the home care workers performing nonmedical functions, the pay is relatively low, in the $8- to $10-an-hour range.

We've had to make changes. We were going into different cities and counties, and now we have cut that to a reasonable distance from our office, and that has hurt the business," said Ademola Osofisan, owner of Serenity Home Health Inc. in Ann Arbor.

Serenity has about 30 employees and serves more than 100 clients. "Some businesses have gone to four-day workweeks, but in this industry, we have to take care of patients 24/7 and we don't have that luxury. We have to be there every day," Osofisan said. "We've lost staff that can't afford to make it work.

EDIT

http://www.mlive.com/businessreview/oakland/index.ssf/2008/07/some_predict_shakeout_in_michi.html