Getting to Know the Take Care Team: Tom Kelly
This month marks the beginning of another chapter of a wonderful career for Tom Kelly as we congratulate him on his promotion to Insurance Coordinator at Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care.
Tom joined Take Care in April 2022 as Accounts Receivable Coordinator and has been an invaluable team player in the accounting department. In his new role, he verifies, submits, and processes long term health insurance claims, serving as a liaison between our clients, their insurance providers, and Take Care's Accounting team.
Today we invite you to learn more about Tom’s path to Take Care – in his own words.
I earned my degree in Accounting with a minor in Economics from the University of Northern Iowa before working for 23 years in finance for private sector companies in Chicago. I enjoyed my career and ended up as CFO for a division of a manufacturing company that made stamping presses for the automotive industry. It was a great job. The 1.5-hour commute two times a day? No so great.
The weather in Chicago? Also not so great! So, while driving in a snowstorm in the winter of 2004, I decided to walk away from that CFO job to become a beach bum.
I moved to Sarasota but first spent more time on the golf course than beach. I decided to take a job working at Mission Valley Country Club – first controller, then manager, and eventually, they asked me to manage additional courses: Bent Tree, Misty Creek and King’s Gate. It was fun for a while, but I attempted to officially retire to North Carolina for a few years...
Then the beach called me back to Sarasota in 2019.
After first taking a part-time job with ever-changing hours driving a golf cart (on steroids) at The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch, I decided I wanted a full-time gig with regular hours.
You hear stories about how people retire and go off the wall without anything to do... (At least some of us do!) I came to the realization that I could only read so many books and decided I wanted to go back to work. For me, working is good for the body, mind, and soul.
While interviewing at Take Care in the spring of 2022, the question was posed to me: “You’ve held some very high-level positions, how do you feel about getting your hands dirty?”
I can share now that I’m in the trenches every day – previously performing all tasks to run the accounting department and now focused on what can be the cumbersome process submitting and processing long term care insurance claims. It’s very detailed, very specific and you learn a new wrinkle daily which makes your job that much easier. It’s fulfilling.
I really enjoy working with our Controller Jennifer Halloran. I also appreciate that the owner (Sue) is extremely hands-on and a very caring individual. Sue makes time. If you want to talk to her, she’ll make time for you. I think that is a very key element in this organization. It brings us closer together when we have owners who are looking out for each team member. And as individuals, as we learn more, we can do more, and then in turn we can contribute more to the organization.
I love the challenge of going to work at Take Care every day. I’m glad to be working as I believe it keeps us mentally sharp, and brings discipline to your life. And good time – insurance coordination is not for the faint of heart!
Plus, the Take Care office is only a 12-minute commute for me in Sarasota! Sure beats the transit from my days in Chicago.
In his new role as Insurance Coordinator, Tom continues working to support clients utilizing long term care insurance for their personalized care, skilled nursing or care management services. As a company, Take Care feels providing guidance navigating long term care insurance is an important service that serves our clients’ best interests. Thanks to Tom, we remain focused on making what can be a burdensome paperwork process and billing cycle as smooth as possible for our clients. If you or your loved ones have any questions about utilizing a long term care insurance policy for Take Care services, please contact Tom at the office.