After taking care of his their own grandparents, it became clear to Robert Stark’s family that there was a clear need in Wichita to provide higher quality care for the elderly struggling with dementia.  He is joined by Robert Miller as they share their journey with Don and Ebony to bring more compassionate care to Wichita.  On this episode we discuss:

Learn more about ComfortCare Homes:

Wichita is the flagship city of ComfortCare Homes. Founded by the Stark family in 1993 after their experiences caring for their own family members with dementia, the company remains a family business strongly committed to developing models for dementia care that foster compassion and drive innovation.

In the process of caring for the Stark grandparents at home, the vision of ComfortCare Homes materialized. The core concept of ComfortCare Homes centers on providing a clear alternative to hospital-like nursing homes by building and remodeling traditional houses to suit the needs of small communities of people living with dementia.

ComfortCare Homes understands that clinical care in large impersonal facilities can elevate stress and increase confusion, and that most people suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia respond well to calm, familiar environments. When the Starks opened the first ComfortCare Homes residence in 1993, they began to see their intuitive understandings create meaningful impacts on lives outside of their own family. Before long, ComfortCare Homes acquired several more residential properties throughout Wichita, and in 2014, built the very first advanced dementia care home from the ground up--Founders Crest--using the insights and innovations gleaned from our first twenty years of operations.

Wichita has been our home for more than 25 years. In that time, we’ve expanded across the city with nine homes, and across the state of Kansas through licensee partnerships in several other cities. We invite you to discover the wide range of services and unique amenities that we offer our residents.

About Doug Stark

Doug Stark has served as president of ComfortCare Homes since 1995. A native of Wichita, Kansas, he attended Wichita public schools and the University of Kansas. Community and civic involvement are core ethics of Doug Stark. He has served on several regional and local boards and member organizations, including the Wichita Downtown Rotary and the Alzheimer’s Association where he was board chair. He was a Big Brother for 12 years, and served on the board of Kansas Health Ethics as treasurer, vice president, and president.

Other Resources:

The ComfortCare Homes Blog
2016 Small Business of the Year Award (video)
ComfortCare Building $2.8M Dementia Care Homes (article)

 

This podcast is brought to you by the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce and is powered by Evergy.  To send feedback on this show and/or send suggestions for future guests or topics please e-mail communications@wichitachamber.org.

 

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network.  For more information visit ictpod.net