Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, different sectors of the economy have experienced major setbacks. The impacts have been more pronounced on the already prevailing labor deficit facing the care industry for the senior people. Kevala, a Seattle-based startup, has come forth with new plans seeking to address this problem.
Just recently, Kevala raised $4 million to aid the development of its integrated workforce management and care platform, which will specialize in supporting long-term care facilities in addressing staffing and compliance needs, among others. Vulcan Capital, a private equity firm, was on the front line in funding the cause. Other firms, including High Alpha, Costanoa, and PSL Ventures, also contributed significantly to funding the program.
Since Kevala’s emergence last April, its primary purpose has been to see that senior living communities and skilled nursing facilities have a reliable and consistent supplemental nursing workforce. The company boasts a technology that allows users to create an efficient pool of on-call nurses who take up the shifts when the need arises. Already, Kevala has a group of around 50 competent and highly experienced nurses that temporarily takes up the shifts and tend to the client’s needs effectively and on time. Kevala primarily sources funds by selling the software and also taking a portion of income to supplemental personnel.
According to Kevala CEO Todd Owens, the deficit in the healthcare labor force is amplified by the imbalance between the demand and supply for nurses in the healthcare industry, which has gradually advanced to become a national crisis. Owens also acknowledges that while long-term care ranks amongst the fastest-growing segments in healthcare, it is also the most technologically under-equipped.
Aegis Living, the president of Kris Engskov, has already expressed interest in collaborating with Kevala. In a statement, she declared that they are already looking forward to working with Kevala in bringing forth a new and unique platform that will improve their approach towards managing the time and scheduling of their care team. By doing so, Aegis is convinced that the platform will make sure that each worker is where they are supposed to be, at precisely the exact time, and most importantly, maintain the same technology they have been using to perform other activities in other aspects of their lives.
