Caring for older adults today isn’t easy, especially with all the changes in healthcare. It takes a steady and caring leader to guide the way—and that’s exactly what Mari Baxter does. As the COO of Senior Helpers, she’s helped the company grow a lot over the years, but she’s never lost sight of what matters most: the families and caregivers who trust them every day.
Mari leads with a personal touch and genuine care. She makes it a point to listen closely, stay connected, and constantly look for better ways to support the people who depend on home care. Whether it’s creating better training programs or using smart tools to track client health, Mari is always looking for ways to improve.
Under Mari’s guidance, Senior Helpers has grown and earned a reputation for truly caring. She shows that caring and fresh ideas can work together.
Let’s delve into the interview details below!
Could you please introduce yourself and share a brief overview of your journey into the healthcare and wellness franchise industry?
Mari Baxter. I am the Chief Operating Officer for Senior Helpers. Senior Helpers is a franchise system focused on home care for those individuals who want to age at home or need assistance to manage their daily care.
I have been with Senior Helpers for 17 years. When I joined Senior Helpers, we had 41 franchise offices across the United States. Today we have 416 locations in the United States, 27 in Australia and 13 locations in Canada. Being part of the growth and watching our franchisees grow and serve so many clients across the world has been incredibly rewarding.
What core leadership principles have guided you in building and sustaining a successful healthcare and wellness franchise?
I never want a franchisee to feel “dis-enfranchised” or unhappy that they are part of the Senior Helpers family. It is my guiding principle with every single franchisee. We operate as a very large family and the larger we become- that personal touch can be at risk. I require that my team time- pick up the phone and not manage by email and text. Communicate, make the franchisees feel supported and that the decision they made to become part of our system was the right career choice.
What key trends or innovations in healthcare and wellness do you believe will shape the industry in the next 3-5 years?
Medicare needs to get on-board with in-home care. When that happens, the entire elder population will be served and studies have shown there will be less hospital readmissions, falls, strokes and people should be able to age longer in their own homes.
What differentiates your franchise model from others in the healthcare and wellness sector?
We have adapted – when everyone else was experiencing caregiver shortages- we modified our approach to training and recruitment and created programs that encouraged those displaced restaurant workers during COVID and other displaced employees to learn caregiving. We created trainings to bring them into the fold.
When hospital readmissions became a critical point of contention for hospitals, we created a new robust assessment process using a scored app which keeps clients safer in the home and out of the hospital.
When rising wages began driving home care costs to an all-time high, quality care became out of reach for some older adults. We created a flexible service program that delivers the support they need—without exhausting their financial resources.
We are always adapting to meet the current concerns of our audience rather than status quo. I am proud of our foresight to do so. We are the only home care agency in the United States recognized as having an Age Friendly Care certification by CHAP. That says it all!
How does your franchise prioritize and measure its impact on the health and wellbeing of the communities it serves?
We reassess our clients through our app to measure their health through a scoring system. We expect to see increases in those scores after service has been in place. We review this on a regular basis as a means to see if we are meeting the needs of our communities. We survey our clients and caregivers on a weekly basis. We continue to grow and at an extraordinary rate, so I certainly have that gauge in addition to other tools of measurement.
What advice would you give to emerging entrepreneurs who want to enter the healthcare and wellness franchise space?
Healthcare for the patient, the families and the caregivers is an emotional topic. You must have empathy, be visionary and understand that you are dealing with people’s lives. Franchising and in particular home care can be a very lucrative industry, however, the most successful franchisees understand that this is a very complex emotional business and a high level of integrity should be in place at all times!
Where do you see your franchise and the overall healthcare and wellness franchise industry heading by 2030?
Medicare coverage for home care and I hope to see the profession of caregiving elevated as a respected and necessary industry that more individuals will embrace. Being a caregiver is a hard and rewarding profession and I respect those individuals who dedicate their lives to taking care of our aging population and those who need extra daily assistance. It isn’t a financially rewarding line of work and it doesn’t receive the level of respect it deserves. I want to believe that as this next generation comes along and understands and appreciates that they have a choice to age at home – that the world will embrace those very dedicated individuals – the caregivers that make aging in place possible.
