TARENTUM, PA – Georgie Blackburn initially joined Blackburn’s to help out for three months—just a short stint before going back to school for nursing. That stint was back in 1978, and 37 years later she is still at the company that has been a Pennsylvania fixture for almost eight decades.
“My husband’s father is the founder,” says Blackburn, who now serves as vice president of Government Relations. “I started in June of ’78 to help them for Summer. I was raised in my father’s insurance agency, and I could see what they were doing wrong in the billing. I found at the end of the three months that I loved what I was doing, because I understood insurance, and I had tripled their intake.”
Within 3 years, Blackburn was working on the marketing side, eventually setting the stage for growth that continues to this day. “We had 7 employees when I joined,” remembers Blackburn. “We have 220 now.
Early on, Blackburn believed in the importance of legislative advocacy, an ethos that remains today. “I remember going to my first national association meeting, back before it became AAHomecare,” she says. “I remember meeting Tom Ryan way back, and Blackburn’s has been a member of the national association since day one.”
To those still on the fence about following Blackburn’s lead, Georgie is unequivocal: “It’s very important that we’re on top of everything that CMS is approving or disapproving and understand why so we can re-educate. AAHomecare is a source. I look at it not as lobbying, but more as educating Congress and legislators as to what we do. Education and voice are the two things that I look at AAHomecare to provide. We need to have a voice speaking for our industry that gives the right message to Congress so they can make sure the right policies are created by CMS.”