Acey Hargett got her start at Piedmont Home Care as an intern while a student at Winston-Salem State University. “My senior year I was required to do an internship, and my professor knew Bob Cain, vice president of marketing at Piedmont Home Care, and set up an interview,” Acey says. “After meeting with him and hearing about his work creating the Senior Care Directory, I knew I wanted the experience of working here.”
Acey jumped right into her work, learning a lot throughout her internship and quickly making friends with other people in the office and creating relationships with caregivers. When Acey came back for the caregiver summer cookout, she was prepared to ask for a full-time job. “I spoke with Michael Coil, the president of the company, and outlined several reasons why he should hire me,” Acey says. A few weeks later she was starting her new job, armed with all the knowledge that came from studying for her degree in healthcare management with a minor in gerontology, and already familiar with Piedmont Home Care’s philosophies of making clients and caregivers feel like family.
Today, Acey uses her talents of understanding people and having compassion for others to match up caregivers with clients. “Getting the right people together is such an important part of our company’s success,” Acey says. “I like to take time to get to know our new caregivers so that I can place them in a home with someone who they will be able to not only get along with, but help them thrive and lead their best life.” She’s also great at keeping things running smoothly in the office, and is always willing to go out and help with a client when the need arises.
Once Acey matches up a caregiver with a client, she makes sure to follow up to make sure things go smoothly, and make adjustments as necessary. Part of her job also includes following each staff member of Piedmont Home Care during their first three months on the job to make sure everything is going well and address any concerns.
“What I love most about working with Piedmont Home Care is the experience that I’m getting every single day,” Acey says. “I enjoy talking with people, helping them through their problems, addressing their concerns and advocating for them. All of this helped me see that I really like the human resources side of things, and I have decided to get my certification in human resources.”
When Acey left her hometown in eastern North Carolina, she had thoughts of one day opening her own long-tern care facility. That might still be on the horizon for this energetic, hard-working, compassionate individual. But in the meantime, Piedmont Home Care is lucky to have her as part of our team.
