Aaging Better

New Beginnings—The AAging Better Story

AAging Better, formerly known as Alternative Health Care, began business in 1996 as a very small local agency based in Rathdrum, serving Kootenai County. The current owners, Bruce and Charlene Weaver, purchased the company in late 2003 with 12 employees and established a main office in Post Falls shortly thereafter. A second office was opened in Sandpoint in 2005 to meet the growing needs of that area. With change of ownership, Alternative Health Care began providing services to Medicaid clients, as well as private pay and insurance clients. In August of 2008, the company changed its name to AAging Better In-Home Care to reflect its philosophy that individuals age better in the comfort of their own homes. With an emphasis on excellence and compassionate quality care, the company continues to grow throughout the region.  A large staff of caregivers spread across the five northern counties allows AAging Better to provide virtually any service needed for in-home care in virtually any North Idaho town.

Background

In the winter of 2002, Bruce finished a 30-year Air Force career as a certified physician assistant (PA-C) and “retired” back to the Inland Empire area. His medical career encompassed all aspects of family medicine, acute care, primary care and treatment of the elderly. This training and experience provided an ideal springboard to offer in-home care from a “medical” perspective to AAging Better’s clients and has continued to be an enduring strength of the agency. No other in-home care agency in Idaho has the distinction of being owned or operated by a physician assistant. This advanced level of medical expertise and oversight has enabled AAging Better’s caregivers to prevent and many times improve the age-related diseases and disabilities seen in its clients. Bruce currently serves as President and CEO. His wife and partner, Charlene, is a registered nurse (RN) with a Masters of Nursing degree. Her lengthy nursing career has included teaching new nursing students, time as a Public Health nurse, Charge Nurse at a large teaching hospital, Nurse Director of Holy Family’s emergency room in Spokane and Executive Nursing Director of Georgetown University’s 4-story multi-specialty outpatient clinic in Washington D.C. She has extensive experience caring for senior populations in numerous states throughout her career and brings this managerial and nursing experience to the agency. Her skilled nursing care plan formats have been praised by the Department of Health and Welfare’s Medicaid Division as examples of excellence in patient care. Her extensive background in teaching has led to an appointment with North Idaho College as an adjunct instructor. Charlene serves as the Executive Director of Personal Care Services for AAging Better and oversees our caregiver training programs and skilled nursing clients.