David Goodman's introduction to the home healthcare industry began right after college, when he took a job with a small healthcare provider. While he quickly learned the ropes there, it was his exposure to this business that opened his eyes to a greater opportunity which would revolutionize care giving in the State of New Jersey. Like many other people, he was aware of United States government census statistics that pointed to a rapidly aging population. Dave was convinced of the growing need for long-term care for the elderly and the disabled, but he was disillusioned by the choices available to them.

The most common long-term care alternatives forced seniors to make painful decisions - sell their homes, where most of them had lived for the majority of their lives, and move into nursing homes, or move in with their children. But there were significant drawbacks to both of these solutions. For one, there was the prohibitive cost and extended waiting time for entering a nursing home. The alternative, moving in with family members, seemed equally unpleasant as it would shift the burden of responsibility for their care on their children - many of which were struggling to raise families of their own. There had to be another way.

After much thought and further research, a solution began to unfold. He knew that there was an abundance of skilled labor working for Medicare and Medicaid agencies, including certified caregivers, who were unhappy in their current situations. Some were tired of being overworked and underpaid, while others were not getting enough work. There were also a large number of caregivers working in nursing homes who were seeking stability and the opportunity to focus their compassion on one client instead of dividing their time between so many different ones. Offering live-in home care seemed like a great solution to everyone's needs, so David took a gamble by founding Expert Home Care, the first company in New Jersey to specialize in 24 hour live-in home care.

At only 23 years of age and short of cash, Dave borrowed a small amount of money from friends and family who believed in his vision and began to build his dream. Over the following months he worked tirelessly to develop his business - recruiting caregivers during the morning hours, visiting referral sources in the afternoons and creating direct mail pieces and letters until late into the night. With a severely limited operating budget, margin for error was small, but Dave's hard work and determination to succeed finally paid off. Success came quicker than he thought, and Expert became a successful business. Twenty years later, still utilizing the same formula that first brought him success - hard work, attention to detail, a hands on approach - Expert Home Care continues to be successful, and is recognized as the leader in live-in home care in New Jersey.

While his business was running smoothly, over time it became increasingly clear to Dave that there were lucrative parts of the market that were not being served by Expert - non-medical companion care and hourly care - which potentially amounted to thousands of dollars of lost monthly revenue. He also recognized that, while there were many people that needed non-medical home care and could afford the higher costs of a payroll model (which is the only billing model used by Expert), there were far more people who had the same needs for care but who had more limited resources.

So in 2000, Dave and his business partner of 14 years, Frank Esposito, opened a second company, Companion Connection Senior Care. Companion Connection Senior Care would provide long term and short term care on a live-in or hourly basis. To make the service more affordable and to enable it to reach a greater percentage of its target population, the company would offer clients several different payment options, including a registry based model where the client assumed the responsibility of an employer and paid the caregiver directly.

Companion Connection Senior Care only accepted clients that did not need hands-on care. Clients would receive high standards of service from qualified caregivers who were legal to work and had been screened for criminal behavior. Additionally, the company provided peace-of-mind to its clients and their families with its 24x7 on-call availability and caregiver relief service so that Companion Connection Senior Care quickly established a reputation among the professional referral sources as a reputable and reliable provider for non-medical home-care. No longer would affordable care be associated solely with "underground" (unlicensed) agencies where clients were subjected to illegal workers who spoke no English, had no training or experience, and were not screened for criminal backgrounds. Companion Connection Senior Care would offer clients safe, reliable workers and the customer service that they deserved - at a price they could afford.

With all of his success, David continues to utilize the field of home care as a means of helping others. His desire to enable others to create financial wealth, while helping people who truly need companion services to live better lives, is what led him to create the Companion Connection Senior Care national membership organization. David is one of the few leaders in the field of home care who knows what it's like to be on the front lines of a business opportunity and he understands the sacrifices that people need to make in order to fulfill their dreams and improve their lives.

David continues to be well respected in the field of home healthcare and in his community where he remains an active participant. He is on the legislative body of the New Jersey Continuity Care Organization, is a member of the New Jersey Home Health Services Staffing Association and is a Certified Senior Advisor. Several years ago David was invited to conduct a weekly radio talk show, called Crossroads, where he and his highly qualified guest speakers from the field of healthcare offered callers their expertise on issues relating to home care. In 1998, David was featured in New Jersey Business News as one of the Top Business Leaders under 40 years old. He has provided expert testimony in court on issues surrounding home healthcare and, most recently, has become licensed as a Long-Term Care Insurance Specialist.

David is 41 and resides in New York City. He enjoys his spare time playing golf and spending time with his family.