Originating in Hattiesburg, Camellia Home Health & Hospice has grown from a two-room house and five employees covering Marion County, to what once was a major executive office building, covering Jeff Davis, Walthall and Marion counties with 60 employees.

“The services and care we provide is the root of our success,” said Donna Gardner, director of nursing. “We provide continuity and quality of care.”

Dr. Kevin Holmes, a local internal medicine physician, and the local family clinic physicians,  along with various other physicians use Camellia Home Health and hospice for the continual quality of care they give, and the positive outcomes of their patients.

The excellence and growth of Camellia is contributed to the dedication and excellent care provided by the staff and referring physicians. Dr. Carol Berg, one of the referring physicians sums it up by saying, “One of the Best! If I have any question or problems, this service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and responds to the patient’s need effectively and efficiently. Meeting your needs on time sums up the care this organization provides.”

Their mission statement agrees. “It is our mission to provide quality healthcare services in a caring, compassionate manner that will enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve.”

Gardner says she has an excellent staff that is dedicated to providing great patient car 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Camellia, founded by W.A. Payne, has License Practical Nurses (LPN), Registered Nurses (RN), and Certified Nurse’s Aids (CNA). Also on staff are physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. They also have a social worker, dieticians, and wound specialists.

“We offer every type of service that a rehab facilities offer,” Gardner said. “We promote vascular therapy with anodyne machines and promote wound healing with Stryker machines.”

Camellia also specializes in orthopedic, cardiac and low vision rehab programs.

Camellia offers high-tech care, utilizing the telemonitoring machine that allows patients to check their vital signs, monitor blood sugars and weight gain to better manage their disease processes. Gardner stated that, “These work though the telephone lines. They are linked to nurses who monitor the reading and alert them to any changes.”

Camellia offers home health care and hospice. Home heath is comprehensive treatment for homebound patients in their places of residence. Medicare and most insurance programs provide intermittent, skilled nursing care for those recovering for surgery or experience extended illnesses.

Hospice Care is available to patient’s diagnoses with cancer, final stages of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s HIV/Aids, neurological and muscular disorder, kidney and liver disease, stroke, coma, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), adult failure to thrive, and other life-limiting conditions.

Camellia has been in business for more than 30 years and is a Medicare certified agency. W.A. Payne started the business as Home Health Care of Mississippi in 1974, but it was later changed to Camellia Home Health and Hospice in 2005. Camellia continues to grow beyond expectations in quality and quantity.

Over the years, Camellia has branched out to several counties in south and central Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia, with offices in Columbia, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Magee, Poplarville, Vicksburg and Port Gibson in Mississippi; Bogalusa in Louisiana and two offices in Georgia.

Camellia continues to grow with assistance of community liaisons, registered nurses Karen Pierce, Ann Pierce and Gardner, all from Mississippi coastal counties. . They get involved with health fairs, seminars, and meetings with physicians to promote growth and ensure quality of care is provide.

Camellia has won numerous awards for their service. Last year, they won the Home Heath Quality Improvement Premier Campaign Participant, “Certificate for Excellence” in both Mississippi and Louisiana. They were recognized by the Mississippi Business Journals Business and Technology Expo 2007 and as one of “Mississippi’s Best Places to Work” in 2007 and as a “Fast 40” in 2005-2008.

They have been given the “Quality Award for Outstanding Performance” in 2004, by the Mississippi State Medicare Quality Improvement Organization, and the “Improvement on Pain Interfering with Activity” in 2003 and the Participation in the Quality Improvement Program of Information and Quality Healthcare - Eighth Scope of Work 2005-2008.

Choose family, choose Camellia. Camellia Home Health and Hospice, where families have been helping families since 1974.  - Columbia Progress