Owner of Bowes, home health agency in Crystal Lake, denies claims the business will close

The owner of Bowes In Home Care, a Medicare-certified home health agency in Crystal Lake, denies claims in a company-wide email that the business would be closing its doors once all patients can be restaffed.

In a company-wide email from Bowes Clinical Administrator Susan Wrzeszcz, sent on Thursday – which was obtained by the Northwest Herald Tuesday – staff members were notified that the decision was made solely by Michael Collura, president and CEO of In Home Personal Services.

“I know this is a blow to you all as it is to all of us,” Wrzeszcz said in the email. “We have an ethical obligation to our patients, so please do not leave them high and dry.”

According to the email, staff members would be paid for any work done for patients that need to be seen Friday.

“I invite you all to come to the office tomorrow,” according to the email. “Actually, I encourage you to come to the office and let your voice be heard. If patients can wait to be seen by next week I have an agency that is willing to hire you and take on the patients.”

Collura, meanwhile, denied the claims Tuesday and said that the email contained misinformation.

“I did not authorize nor have I initiated any such closure,” Collura said.

Wrzeszcz could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

In a separate email sent to staff by In Home Personal Services COO Iris Santiago, the company recently was unable to make payroll after promised funding fell through.

“This does not mean that you will not be paid for any of your work but instead it will be delayed,” Santiago said in the email.

Any benefits such as paid time off that was accrued will be paid out and will be processed according to company policies and procedures, according to the email. The company also had been looking into other ways of getting a loan but if that fails, there still are accounts receivables that are expected to be another source of funding, according to the email.

“Bowes will update you on when to get the check as soon as we have any but I apologize if I do not have a concrete answer for you right now,” according to the email.

On Tuesday, a sign was visible on the front door of the Bowes office, 813 Tek Drive, which stated, “Our office is closed and available by appointment only.”

“I understand the shock, the frustration and all mixed emotions, but this is a decision that was not easy to make especially to the Senior Leadership,” Santiago said in the email. “I hope that in anything you do, please think before making any harsh decisions and if not for the company, think of your patients first. We need to transition them accordingly.”