Interview by Dianna Stiles
Deborah J. Johnston, R.N.
Debbie Johnston, owner and founder of Care Advantage, a home health care company, was sitting in her Richmond office when Kim Whelan-Williams, one of her vice presidents, entered crying. Kim had just received some devastating news: Her brother James was diagnosed with stage four cirrhosis of the liver. To survive, he needed a liver transplant. Compounding the trauma of the situation was the realization that his health insurance would not cover all the expenses. He needed an additional $40,000 for the procedure.
Johnston immediately went into action.
“Debbie’s a fixer,” explains Ben Fitzwater, Johnston’s assistant.
She personally donated several thousand dollars toward the operation and began organizing fundraising events to further assist the family. During one event, James reluctantly agreed to raffle off his most prized possession—a 1980 Harley Davidson motorcycle—a decision he made out of financial necessity. As luck would have it, Johnston won the motorcycle in the raffle. Knowing its importance to James, she promptly gifted it back to him. Today, James remains on the waiting list for a transplant.
Acts of kindness are a hallmark of Johnston’s personality and, not surprisingly, charity and compassion infuse her businesses as well.
Care Advantage was born out of frustration with the changing health care environment in the late 1980s. Johnston, who worked as a registered nurse at the time, recalls, “It used to be you had a baby and lay around the hospital for a week. You had a mastectomy and you’d be there seven days. No more.”
Hospital stays were shortening, and Johnston thought, “These patients need a nurse to check on them at home.” To bridge the gap in care, Johnston created Care Advantage.
Her business places private nurses in a patient’s home. Johnston explains, “Your mother comes home [from the hospital] and she’s still sick. You call me and I’ll send you a nurse. For two hours or 24 hours, seven days a week. Whatever you need. … Some people just need a bath, some people need 24-hour care.”
While every patient’s requirements are different, the central theme is the same: they need skilled nursing care at home.
While providing medical care is Care Advantage’s primary service, Johnston acknowledges that a lot of their job is education. Returning home from the hospital with several pages of medical instructions tucked into their suitcases, patients are often “bewildered,” says Johnston. The Care Advantage nurses decode the doctor’s orders, meaning they can arrange for wheelchair delivery, schedule physical therapy, manage a patient’s prescriptions and teach patients how to care for themselves.
With 19 offices in Virginia, “from Roanoke to Emporia to everywhere in between,” Care Advantage and it’s 3,000 employees are ready to help Virginia’s residents transition from hospital to home effectively and safely.
In Her Words
Life can change in a nanosecond. One minute Grandma is healthy and living alone; the next thing you know, she falls, breaks her hip and needs daily care. Educate yourself on what companies like ours do, what hospice entails, which nursing homes are reputable, etc. No one stays healthy forever. The more information you have on hand the better you’ll be able to deal with the nanosecond change.
Giving is one of the best gifts you can receive. I’ve always felt giving back to the community was important. Along with donating to many organizations, I started a local TV initiative called Changing Our Community One Charity at a Time. Airing on Channel 8 and hosted by Matt DiNardo, I pay for four minutes of TV time to feature a local charity. The segments run 26 times a year allowing 26 different charities to advertise (free of charge) their services and mission.
You have to embrace people when you have them. This is something my mother used to say. Recently, I threw my father a surprise 80th birthday party. There isn’t anything anyone could give me that would make me as happy as seeing his face that day.
If my house were on fire I would save pictures of my parents.
Bio
Occupation
Registered nurse, author of The School of Heart Knocks and owner of Care Advantage, Nurse Advantage and All About Care
Birthplace
Ridgecrest, Ca.
Currently Resides
Midlothian, Va.
Family
Single
Education
Graduate of Johnston-Willis Hospital, School of Nursing
Community Involvement
Over the years Johnston has donated more than $500,000 to local charities, including: Alzheimer’s Association, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and Multiple Sclerosis Society
Professional Associations
Board member, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
Recent Awards
YWCA Outstanding Women’s Award, 2011