Billie K. Dragoo was making a good living
as a recruiter but wanted to have her own
business and do things her way. She also
had developed a passion for the medical
staffing business, so she founded RepuCare
in 1995.
The company initially operated from her
home and focused on providing licensed
physical and occupational therapists on a
temporary basis to hospitals and clinics in
central Indiana. The premise was to provide
quality health care staffing in an environment that generally focused more on costs,
regulations and limited services.
The business thrived until 1999, when a
change in law flooded the market with therapists and nurses. Revenue decreased by
70 percent in one month, threatening the
survival of the business. She had to immediately cut overhead and salaries, including
her own, renegotiated vendor contracts and
slashed noncritical expenses.
With the market changing, she decided to
deploy some of her therapists in a different
manner. She discovered a market to provide
on-site rehabilitation services for injured
workers directly on the employer’s site. As a
result, she was able to ride out the storm
and emerge a stronger company.
By 2004, this new business had become a
liability. Margins had deteriorated, and another change was needed. She shifted gears,
retaining the same clients but redefined the
service as on-site health care services. Rather
than deploying a therapist, she would deploy
a nurse in an on-site clinic to address urgent
care, primary care and occupational health
for employees. She eventually split her business in two, and today, both RepuCare and
RepuStaff LLC are thriving.
HOW TO REACH: RepuCare Inc., www.repucare.com; RepuStaff
LLC, www.repustaff.com