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LAPLACE — The opening of a new satellite office at 948 Cambridge Drive Ste. 103A in LaPlace allows Christian Home Health Care to expand compassionate care to patients in St. John the Baptist, St. James and St. Charles parishes.

A grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony was celebrated on December 7 at the new location.

For more than 20 years, Christian Home Health Care has covered primarily the New Orleans region with a scope of home health services including nursing (RN, LPN), physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, medical social work, home health aide, Rx program, patient clinic days, spiritual support, durable medical equipment, physician home visits and seniors’ resources.

The business is currently overseen by CEO Elyana Davis, who is taking over the reins from her mother, Elaine Davis. Melissa Chriss serves as administrator for the satellite office.

Chriss was exposed to the world of health care at a young age as she watched her mother, a registered nurse, take a leap of faith in opening her own business. Her children soon became involved, and Chriss has experienced every arena of the field from the clerical side to collecting blood samples as a phlebotomist.

Elyana Davis was similarly exposed to home health at a young age. While Christian Home Health was established in New Orleans in 1988, the Davis family acquired the business from bankruptcy court in 1999 after the original owner fell ill and made a final effort to save the company she’d built.

Elaine Davis was brought in to manage finances, but her passion for home health is what has guided the direction of the company for the past 20 years.

“I’m an accountant by profession, but my love for seniors is what drew me to home health care. When it comes to the elderly, I’ve always had a passion,” Elaine Davis said.

She fondly reflects on long drives on backroads across Louisiana with her dear Aunt Octavia, who often shared stories about how much the world had changed in her lifetime.

Elyana Davis inherited her mother’s compassion for others, especially the elderly. She’s worked in both the clerical and nursing side of home health care over the past decade.

“You meet a lot of great families and great patients out here. Nothing makes you feel like you’ve fulfilled your purpose more than that moment when you’re walking in the grocery store sand someone says, hey, you took care of my aunt, or my sister, or my brother,” Elyana Davis said. “That’s what lets me know that I’ve picked the right niche in my career.”

Christian Home Health Care was one of the first home health agencies to reopen in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The business was stationed uptown just across the street from a FEMA disaster center that sent over elderly patients in need of care after the storm.

In New Orleans, the Christian team started two 501C3 nonprofits to provide supportive and informational services to seniors. Elyana Davis plans to get involved in the River Parishes community and partner with local universities to bring much needed resources to the area.

“Having the satellite office in LaPlace is important because it’s hard to get nurses from New Orleans to come out here,” Elyana Davis said. “We’re seeing the baby boomers needing health care, and we are seeing younger patients now who are sicker than some of the older patients. There’s really a need, and there’s not enough availability of care.”

Christian Home Health Care is in the process of hiring qualified local RNs, LPNs and CNAs who have a heart for caring for others.

According to the team, Christian Home Health Care  also stands apart from other agencies by offering spiritual care.
“Medicare does not require us to have that, but it’s needed. It doesn’t matter what faith you are. We just want people to have encouragement more than anything,” Elaine Davis said.

In order to receive home health services, a patient must be homebound, and services must be prescribed by a physician. For more information, call 985-703-5001.