Procare Ambulance Services, Inc.’s CEO, Deborah Ailiff first visited the Anne Arundel County SBDC for assistance in February 2010, primarily for guidance during an expansion. Procare provides ambulance and wheelchair transport services to healthcare organizations in the region. In 2005, Deborah and her husband purchased the assets of a fledgling ambulance company with very few services to offer and no contracts, 20 full-time and 10 part-time employees and about $1M in annual revenues. As it turned out, they overpaid for over-valued assets and the company lost money for almost 3 years, during which time Deborah used her law practice income to subsidize it. Eventually, they fired the manager they had hired to run the business, her husband took another job to support the family (they have 5 children) and Deborah quit her law practice to run Procare fulltime to try and turn it around.

      After a tremendous amount of struggle, by the end of 2007, the firm was profitable. Deborah achieved this by focusing on patient safety, ethics and compliance, hiring high-quality employees, and by adding more services to become a full service provider. Having started with a main office in Towson to serve Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), she was able to open a second office in Crofton. Then as transport volume increased, Procare began expansion into the rest of Maryland and parts of Washington, DC.

       When Deborah first came to the Anne Arundel County SBDC, She met with Business Consultant Hollis Minor. In addition to expanding her business, she needed assistance with achieving her goal of doubling revenues in 2 years. Deborah was handling about 40-50 calls per day and her goal was 100 per day. She also wanted to go from a little under $3.3M annually to about $6.4M. “While her services were award-winning, her internal infrastructure needed some improving in order for her to accomplish successful growth,” stated business consultant Hollis Minor. In addition, Hollis could see the opportunity for Procare to capture market share by certifying as a woman-owned small business and bidding government contracts.

       With the assistance of SBDC business consultant Hollis Minor, Deborah began the certification process for the MDOT-MBE and WOSB. She also learned how to access government contracting opportunities and complete registrations in government systems such as CCR, SBA profile, ORCA, SBR, etc.

       Deborah is gradually implementing internal infrastructure improvements and believes she is now on target to achieve her goal of doubling in size in 2 years. Today, Procare’s staff is 94-strong and includes a full management and marketing staff, wheelchair van drivers, emergency medical dispatchers, EMT-B’s, EMT-I’s, EMT-P’s, CCEMT-P’s, and RN’s. It provides its clients with a full range of services including BLS, ALS, SCT (specialty care/critical care), and specialized OB (obstetrics) transportation services. The firm’s annual revenues are expected to exceed $3.3 million in 2011 and Deborah expects to realize substantial revenue increases during 2012 as a result of several sizeable new contracts in the pipeline.

       Deborah is proud of her firm’s award-winning and consistent on-time performance through generous daily staffing, putting a premium on high-employee morale and ensuring a focus on customer satisfaction. Procare and its employees are committed its values of Safety, Quality, Compliance, Teamwork and its motto, “treat every patient as if they were your own family!”

       Procare has become an industry leader, setting the bar for professionalism and consistent on-time performance.