E-commerce healthcare company plans Miami move. What it means for caregivers
Carewell, a North Carolina-based online retailer focused on providing family caregivers with tools and resources to care for family members facing Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, plans to move its headquarters to Miami.
To make the move, Carewell, now headquartered in Charlotte, secured nearly $25 million in capital from investors, including from a team based in Coral Gables, and has hired four former executives at Plantation-based Chewy, an online pet goods retailer.
Chewy laid off more than 200 employees, including some top executives, in November.
The move, to a “central location” in Miami not yet identified, is designed to be accessible for Carewell’s growing team in South Florida. The digital healthcare company plans to hire from the area, chief executive and co-founder
Bianca Padilla said in an email to the Miami Herald.
The shift from Charlotte about seven years after the company’s 2017 founding should have no disruptive effect on Carewell’s customer base, given that it conducts its business as e-commerce. The funding will help expand Carewell’s product base and services, company leaders say.
Carewell is designed to support independent caregivers through phone and online support services, educational resources and the sale and delivery of supplies necessary in the care of aging patients. The product mix includes nutritional supplements such as Boost and Ensure, incontinence supplies, adult wipes and diapers and pads, respiratory care items such as nebulizer kits and masks, mobility supplies such as walkers, wound care merchandise, and medication management and monitors.
“Carewell offers fast, free shipping all across the contiguous U.S. While the move to Miami primarily affects our corporate team members, our customers can expect the same level of service they have been receiving from Carewell,” Padilla said.
ABOUT ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA
The market is growing. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 6.7 million Americans ages 65 and older were living with Alzheimer’s in 2023. The CDC predicts that the number of Americans with dementia will double to 14 million by 2060.
About 1 in 9 people age 65 and older, or 10.7% of that population, has Alzheimer’s. Almost twothirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women. And older Black Americans and Hispanics are twice and 1.5 times, respectively, more likely to have Alzheimer’s or other dementia as older whites.
FAMILY CAREGIVING
More than 42 million Americans are caring for someone age 50 or older, and 24% of these people are providing care for at least two people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These are not healthcare professionals in a medical setting. These are regular people tasked with taking care of loved ones with cognitive disabilities such as dementia and Alzheimer’s while also balancing their own lives — holding down jobs and maintaining daily routines and their own health.
“Family caregiving is becoming an increasingly more common experience in the U.S. with spouses, children, parents, and even grandchildren having to take on a caregiving role overnight without warning,” Carewell’s Padilla said in a statement. “Understandably, these individuals can experience significant mental, physical, and emotional stress as they balance their role as caregivers with other responsibilities to work and family, and our mission at Carewell is to help educate, support and advocate
Chewy, are:
Mike Pacifico is chief financial officer. He was previously head of finance at Chewy and CFO at Arteza, an arts and crafts brand.
Jason Klinghoffer is chief marketing officer. He worked at Chewy from 2014 to 2018, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
Samantha Rassner, who led software development at Chewy and also worked at BEX Realty, is chief technology officer.
Kelli Durkin is vice president for customer service. In addition to Chewy, Durkin worked at The Farmer’s Dog.
“What the new team brings to the table is experience navigating a fastgrowing e-commerce company and successfully creating a household name with a customer-first approach,” Padilla told the Herald. “We’re leaning on their learnings, processes and experience to grow faster.”