The Southern Caregivers staff at the company's Texarkana, Arkansas location. Samantha Gummerson, Co-owner/Operator and Director of the Texarkana office is second from right.

Southern Caregivers, founded in 2015 by Registered Nurse Blake Watson of Magnolia, has had a location since 2020 on 4001 Jefferson Road in Texarkana, Arkansas, which serves the greater Southwest Arkansas area, including Hempstead and Nevada Counties. Samantha Gummeson, Co-Owner/Operator and Director of the Texarkana office, was born and raised in Hope and lives in Prescott herself. So Southern Caregivers has a native of our area with 14 years’ experience in health care professional answering the needs of people who need help at home.

While being careful to distinguish that they do not provide skilled care or home health service, Gummeson explained what Southern Caregivers provides to its clients. “We assist with activities of daily living, such as bathing, grooming, toileting, meal preparation, feeding, mobility, housework, laundry, running errands, and assisting clients to appointments. We can offer 24 hours, seven days a week caregiving service. But that's generally going to be with a private pay or a long-term care policy. 

This kind of help can be crucial in giving family or loved ones who are caregivers a break and allowing people who need a little or lot of help to stay in their own homes rather than move to an assisted living facility or nursing home. “They're able to stay in their home, which a lot of people want to do. But while doing it, they don't want to be a burden to anyone. So being able to bring us in can keep them at home and give their family a peace of mind. There are times when the patient might not have anyone that is able to check on them or help them. We become their family and our caregivers are their family,” Gummeson said.

Southern Caregivers isn’t just for one kind of client, Gummeson said. “We don't just take care of the older, retired community. We take care of all ages. No matter their age or disability, we try to come in and help wherever their need.” 

Addressing the way their caregivers are trained, Gummeson said Southern Caregivers has a system to ensure they are properly prepared before working for their first client. “When we hire a caregiver, we prefer to hire on with them either being a CNA, which is a certified nursing assistant, or we can hire them with a certification as a PCA, which is a personal care aide. But there are people out there that work as caregivers already, but they might not have a certification or a license to do so. And we can offer them personal care assistant training at no charge.”

The company started, said Gummeson, when founder Watson, who worked then at the UAMS clinic in Magnolia, noticed a great need for caregiving services in South Arkansas. The first office opened in 2015 in Magnolia. The second was opened in Hot Springs in 2019, a year that also saw Southern Caregivers open a location in Searcy. 

The Texarkana location opened in 2020, covering a territory including Southwest Arkansas towns from Texarkana east to Gurdon with many towns in between. After that, COVID slowed down the company’s expansion until 2022, when the company made up for lost time with openings of new offices in De Queen, Conway, Jonesboro, Bentonville, and Springdale to make it nine locations for Southern Caregivers today. 

Asked what it’s been like for her and for the company during what she called a “fast and furious” expansion, Gummeson said, “All in all, it's been really good. It's been a little chaotic, stretched a little thin some days, because we're trying to be all over the place as a support system for new staff and getting the new offices up and going. But it's been good, and it’s all been worth it. And we've got really good staff on board right now at all locations, and they're starting to really take off”.

Right now, Southern Caregivers is in recruiting mode. As you drive into the parking lot of its Texarkana location, you’ll see a sign advertising for new caregivers. Reaching full staffing has been more difficult in northern Arkansas than in the lower half, Gummeson said. “But it's getting better. And that's not really a problem just with us, that's, at this point, almost like a pandemic within itself.  It doesn't matter what field you work in, there's a shortage of staff or help. And so, we are trying to think outside the box, doing a lot of recruiting and trying to be a part of the community, being available at health fairs and hiring events and all that. So, we're working to recruit all over Arkansas.”

Those wishing to join Southern Caregivers, according to its recruiting material, would be in for “competitive pay, flexible schedules, one to one client/aide ratio and Free Personal Care Aide Certification Courses.” The qualifications are being “able to pass a background check and drug screen,” having “a valid driver’s license, vehicle insurance and reliable transportation,” being “compassionate, responsible and dependable” and having certifications as CNA or PCA, but the company does “offer training to non-experienced qualified applicants.”

For high school students considering joining the company, Gummeson advises they take advantage of opportunities at nearby colleges to receive training and licensing in the field or apply with us and take advantage of our PCA training. She herself did not go for a Registered Nursing program right away, but first sought training as a Licensed Practical Nurse. That way, Gummeson worked as she trained and saw multiple angles of the health system before deciding how she wanted to participate in it.

Scheduler Cymone Cornelius, who works at the Texarkana office, said that she is glad to be able to know the caregivers she is working with. “It's a wonderful company. I came here from a nursing home. So, I kind of knew a lot about what I was doing. It's not very stressful at all. You get to learn the caregivers a lot more one on one than just needing them to work and not ever seeing them anymore. So you get more one on one with the caregivers coming inside.” Her job involves tailoring what Southern Caregivers can provide to a particular client. “We try to match a caregiver to the needs of that client. So that's kind of what our day-to-day basis work is.”

Julie Staggs is the office manager and intake nurse at the De Queen location. She said she field calls about prospective clients and helps sort out their sources of funding. “I'll check to see if they have the right kind of insurance. I can make sure that if they don't have that kind of insurance, I can tell them what to do. If they do have the right kind of insurance, I go out and get them signed up.” She oversees whether clients and families are satisfied with the caregivers’ services and hires new caregivers, too.

Both Cornelius and Staggs were complimentary about the culture of their workplace. “Yes, we come in and we have a good time. Yeah, laugh and talk with each other. We are like a family, not just coworkers,” Cornelius said. “I feel like I have all the support in the world that I need. Even though I'm up there in De Queen, I feel like I can call anybody about all the help I need. It's very family oriented.”

Staggs also mentioned the rewards that come with providing services to Southern Caregivers’ many clients, “We help a lot of people stay in their homes to age in place, to make sure that they have everything that they need to not have to go to the nursing homes and not have to go into assisted living. That's always been the reward for me, to make sure that people get to stay at home.”

All nine locations in Arkansas are owned by Blake & Morgan Watson (Magnolia), Samantha Gummeson (Hope/Prescott), and Landon Stuart (Hot Springs). 

Those wishing to work for Southern Caregivers are urged to call 1-501-463-9990 or email to [email protected]. Potential clients or their families can contact the company at 1-501-463-9990 as well.

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• The ownership team of (couples from left to right) Blake and Morgan Watson, David and Samantha Gummeson, and Landon and Samantha Stuart. Photo provided by Samantha Gunneson.

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• Ribbon was cut at the grand opening of Southern Caregivers Texarkana in 2020.