Mr. Shames is a graduate of Allegheny College (Class of 1971). He served as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army and, after working for various home care companies in the New York Metropolitan Area, co-founded Neighbors Home Care in 1985. Mr. Shames has participated in many aspects of the home health care industry and has authored and co-authored innovative articles that have been published in academic and industry journals. He has served on the Board of Directors of a New York City Home Attendant Vendor Agency, a Bronx-based Senior Citizens Center, and a Long Island-based Children and Family Services Agency. In addition, he serves on the Advisory Board/Committee to a Bronx-based Certified Home Health Agency. He also served as Secretary of the Board of New York State Health Care Providers Association and President of the New York City Chapter of New York State Health Care Providers Association.

Mr. Shames has made numerous presentations at the New York State Home Care Association's annual meetings as well as at the National Association of Home Care's annual meetings. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the New York State Health Care Providers Self-Insurance Trust for Disability Insurance. Mr. Shames is a hands-on administrator with twenty-seven (27) years of home care experience.

Ms. Kroessler, who has over thirty-seven (37) years of home care experience, directly supervises staff on a daily basis regarding the delivery of quality, cost-effective home care services, the supervision of Home Health Aides and Personal Care Workers, the management of difficult-to-service clients, etc. Ms. Kroessler is on-call seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours per day, to lend technical assistance and guidance in matters that require such intervention. She has had extensive experience as a visiting nurse in a certified home health agency. She is familiar with state and federal regulations that agencies must comply with, and the need for strong communication lines between agency and patients or their families.

Ms. Kroessler has developed a group of paraprofessional personnel to meet the special needs of the community. She has participated in implementing new programs for the utilization of Home Health Aides and introduced methods to meet the different paraprofessional staffing needs of the Certified Home Health Agencies and Long Term Home Health Care Programs. Additionally, she oversees the day-to-day operations of the agency and is the Chairperson of the Continuing Quality Improvement Committee.

Ms. Mercado, with a certificate in Gerontology, has over 9 years of home care experience and over 12 years of teaching experience. She directly conducts the full Home Health Aide, Transitional, and Upgrade training programs and supervises clinical practice of all trainees for Neighbors Home Care. She directs and oversees the recruitment of paraprofessional personnel as well as the pre-employment screening process, and also conducts the orientation of paraprofessionals to the agency. Included in this orientation is supervising paraprofessional personnel in a hospital setting. Ms. Mercado also guarantees on-going compliance (for health, inservice and competency) for all active personnel.

Previous to coming to Neighbors Home Care, Ms. Mercado worked as a Registered Nurse from 1986 to 1989 at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. She was involved in discharge planning and patient/family education. From 1989 to 1993, she worked at Beth Abraham Health Services Comprehensive Care Management Clinic. Her duties consisted of organizing patient clinic visits, executing nursing and medical regimes authorized by the physician and assisted in the program's Utilization Review Program. Her bilingual abilities play an important role in establishing strong communication links with patients and paraprofessionals. She interfaced with the home care team in care planning, development and implementation, and followed up with appropriate patients with respect to clinical outcomes.

Mrs. Whilby, with over 27 years of nursing experience, has over 8 years of home care experience. As a Nurse Supervisor for Neighbors Home Care, Mrs. Whilby brings a wealth of experience and knowledge. She had worked for a New York City Home Attendant agency, servicing Spanish, Russian and English speaking clients in the Bronx and Manhattan. Her experience in client assessment, supervision of aides, and liaison with CASA, VNS, and Medical Equipment Suppliers has all greatly enhanced her role at Neighbors Home Care.

Mrs. Whilby works closely with the Vice President & Director of Patient Services in providing quality service to Neighbors Home Care's private paying clients. She performs regular home visits to each client, evaluating their needs on an ongoing basis.

Mrs. Whilby also conducts audits of paraprofessional files in order to assure that all employees are in compliance with respect to New York State Department of Health and Joint Commission Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) regulations.