The Little Company That Could

From a single home nursing office to over 370 locations in the US and around the world, one dedicated team has been helping millions of families in their time of need for 50 years.

How the Adventure Began

It was 1975, and at just 27 years old, Mark Baiada used his modest life savings to start a home health care company in Center City, Philadelphia. Why home care? Because he wanted to devote his life’s work to helping people and making a real difference in their lives.

Thinking about his own grandmother, who would eventually need his family’s support to age in place, Mark realized not everyone was so lucky. With research, he discovered a growing need, came up with a solution, and took an entrepreneurial leap of faith.

One by one, a gutsy group of employees who shared the same passion joined the movement to help people live safely at home with comfort, independence, and dignity. Today, we are known as BAYADA Home Health Care (a phonetic spelling of the family name).

As BAYADA services expanded first across the region, then the country, and eventually internationally, a clear vision took shape: to serve millions of people worldwide and to build the world’s most compassionate and trusted team of home health care professionals.

Ambitious, yes, but BAYADA has never shied away from hard work. In fact, our organization thrives on the Baiada family motto, “Think big. Work hard. Show love.” While our teams work tirelessly, we also make sure to celebrate our successes and each other, embracing the diversity that makes us stronger.

For the long haul, we are in this together to change lives for the better.

Staying On Course

Home health care is essential for maintaining a society’s quality of life, but it has never been an easy industry. Since Medicare and other insurers pay significantly less for home care than they do for hospital care, home care providers tend to operate on tight margins. With a constantly evolving set of rules and regulations, today’s home care marketplace is highly competitive, challenging, and complex.

Despite the challenges, BAYADA continued to invest in clinical excellence and built its reputation as a compassionate, trusted leader in home health care. By staying creative, flexible, and determined, we made sure to get the job done for clients in need.

Over decades of growth, BAYADA expanded its services beyond senior care to offer a full range of home- and community-based care, including nursing, rehabilitative, therapeutic, hospice, and personal care services for people of all ages and abilities.

In the early 2000s, to ensure it stayed on the right track, BAYADA interviewed clients, employees, and partners to help define its corporate purpose, beliefs, key actions, and core values. That effort led to the creation of a mission and vision statement known as The BAYADA Way®, centered on delivering the highest-quality home care with compassion, excellence, and reliability.

These principles shape everything BAYADA does and the decisions our leaders make to keep innovating and improving.

Bigger Impact, Same Heart

Nearing what would be—for most—retirement age, still as driven as ever, Mark Baiada began to think about his lasting legacy. After consulting with his loved ones, he made the selfless decision to convert their family-owned business into a nonprofit organization, ensuring that its mission and vision would continue for the next 100 years and beyond.

Not only did Mark forgo selling his company for profit, but in 2018, he also gave back by distributing $20 million of his own savings as a Gift of Gratitude to every BAYADA employee. Mark volunteered to serve as chair of the board and passed the torch to his son, David Baiada, who became CEO.

With the foresight to go nonprofit, BAYADA is now one of the last independent home health care organizations still growing and innovating to serve more people and communities in need, free to continue our movement that puts people first.

We have weathered challenges and protected both clients and employees through the COVID-19 pandemic. We support people through their moments of joy, struggle, and transition with care that comes from the heart and goes beyond medical needs to encompass the full spectrum of human experience.

Shaping the Future

At our 50-year milestone, BAYADA is doubling down on the movement it ignited, fully committed to do what it takes to make high-quality post-acute and long-term care available to the millions of people who will need it.

A growing coalition of professional associations, clinicians, clients, and other stakeholders are on the journey with us—and we invite you to be a part of it, too! The sustainability of home health care is crucial for everyone, and the need has never been more urgent.

As the US population ages, there are fewer nurses and caregivers available to meet the growing need for care. This has led to a severe and worsening shortage of home care services.

To make care accessible to all, we need truly innovative solutions to age-old problems:

• To build a strong workforce, we are taking health care training and career development into our own hands.
• To bring services to more communities, we are cultivating trusted leaders to build new local teams and collaborative relationships.
• We are finding ways to do more with less, embracing technology and artificial intelligence to deliver better outcomes for clients.
• We are tapping into philanthropy to better support communities of people who feel left behind.
• We are advocating for those who need care and those who provide it, advancing critical research to understand their challenges and inform better solutions.

Your voice and talents can make a real difference. There is a place for you in our movement to transform home health care. Together, we can ensure that​ millions of people get the essential services they need to live safely and comfortably at home.​

Join us! Whether you are starting a career or looking for a leadership role, visit jobs.bayada.com for opportunities near you. To help defend access to home health care, visit heartsforhomecare.com/get-involved.