When ‘Home Care’ Also Means Caring for Employees

A few weeks ago, BAYADA Home Health Care Founder Mark Baiada surprised employees with a $20 million gift from his personal funds to honor their commitment to being excellent home health professionals — called his “Gift of Gratitude” — as he takes steps to turn his company into a nonprofit.

Last week, local BAYADA offices celebrated Mark’s Gift of Gratitude as office directors distributed a letter to employees surprising them with how much of the $20 million each employee will receive.

The amount each employee received was calculated based on each employee’s total lifetime earnings with the company. The checks ranged from $50 for someone who just started last week, to tens of thousands for those who have been working at BAYADA for a long time, according to BAYADA. The longest tenured employees are 38 years — there are six of them, not including Mark Baiada.

BAYADA employs 1,336 people in Hawai‘i specifically, and the check amounts that were received in the Aloha State ranged from $50 to more than $6,100.

The event at the BAYADA Kaua‘i Home Care coincided with their recognition of specific employees denoted as “rookie awardees” as well as “heroes of 2018” on Dec. 13.

The gesture from Mark Baiada was a final element of Baiada’s Lasting Legacy succession plan, which will see the company transition to nonprofit in early 2019.

As part of this Lasting Legacy plan, Mark Baiada transitioned from the role of BAYADA president to Chairman of the Board of Trustees on his 70th birthday last year. In his new role, he is helping to oversee the company’s transition to nonprofit, which is believed to be the first transition of its kind in the healthcare industry.

Mark Baiada is making the move to ensure The BAYADA Way — BAYADA’s philosophy and the spirit and the guidance for the work it does — will continue with compassion, excellence and reliability for generations to come.

Company officials said the announcement was a heartfelt “thank you” to the employees who have helped to shape BAYADA over the past 45 years.

BAYADA Kaua‘i Home Care is at 3083 Akahi St. Suite 101 in Lihu‘e.