NuCara launches local home care business

Elder care is all the rage these days, and market analysts have estimated its annual impact on the U.S. economy to be as much as $300 billion. Now, NuCara Group, which started as a pharmacy in Conrad and has since become a regional and national health conglomerate, is getting in on the act with Home Care Assistance of the Cedar Valley, an affiliated provider that will serve residents throughout Grundy County and across the area from its office in Cedar Falls.
           
Jessica Fairbanks started her career with NuCara as director of home medical equipment, and she’s now been tapped to lead the new endeavor. For Fairbanks, it isn’t just a business opportunity: as the daughter of a father who was 59 years old when she was born, it’s personal.
           
“I just grew up around a lot of older people, and I find that I kind of have an old soul. I really enjoy the older generation,” she said. “They have so much to share, and you can learn so much from them.”
           
And with the Baby Boomers reaching retirement age, the aforementioned generation is larger than ever—life expectancy is up, nursing homes are full and more and more Americans are opting to stay in their homes longer. In rural areas, the trend is particularly prevalent: the latest Census data indicates that one in every four Grundy County residents is 60 or older.
           
For NuCara, branching out into home care was a logical extension of its services, which already include home medical equipment, and management set out on a mission to find a partner company. They eventually settled on Home Care Assistance, a Palo Alto, California based group, and franchised their first branch in Cedar Falls.
           
The goal of Home Care Assistance is to provide help for seniors in a variety of situations—some of whom may not require constant supervision but could still use a hand with day-to-day tasks.
           
“It could be as simple as giving them a ride to the grocery store,” NuCara Director of Operations Darci Olson said. 
 
Read the full story in this week's Grundy Register. Subscribe by calling (319) 824-6958 or clicking here.