“When I started Agenacare Housecalls, I asked myself what I would want as a mom,” Whitney Pugh says. “Health care in the home is exactly what I would want.”

Whitney took her idea to Roanoke Regional SBDC’s business advisor Tom Tanner. “I told him I have this idea for a business, but I don’t know how to do it,” she recalls. “Tom helped me put the business together in August, and we launched it in November.”

Whitney, a nurse practitioner, went to the SBDC for help with business specifics. “I knew my field but nothing about business,” she says. “Initially, Tom helped me understand the difference between a PLLC and LLC, and helped me get my tax ID and establish a bank account. He walked me through all those things I had no clue about.”

As the business name implies, Agenacare makes house calls. During the last two months of 2019, Whitney, the sole provider, cared for 25 patients in their homes. Despite the pandemic, the patient count in 2020 increased to 500. “We made the decision when COVID started that we were not going to shut down,” Whitney says. “I was still the sole provider until December 2020.”

By 2021, Agenacare’s staff had grown to five providers, five contractors, and five administrators. “To date in 2021, we’re at 2,500 patient visits,” Whitney adds. “We don’t take insurance, so for us to be that busy is really good.”

Tom has been involved every step of the way. “I go to Tom first and say, ‘this is what we want to do — will it work?’” Whitney says. “Tom is my sounding board when I want to see if something is doable.”

Future plans include adding more areas of care. “What the community needs is what we develop,” Whitney notes. “We’ve already split into two practices, and we’re on our way to adding a third.” Before offering managed care, Whitney plans to consult the SBDC. “The SBDC helped me get where I am today,” she says. “I consider Tom a key player in my business.”

Whitney enthusiastically recommends the SBDC to all who ask about her success. “I recommend the SBDC a thousand percent,” Whitney concludes. “I’m very appreciative of all the help I’ve received from them.”