That situation is one of many bonding moments the Huntsville resident recalls about being a government employee embedded with the military in Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar and Kuwait. “You don’t forget,” he says.
A Jamaican native who became a U.S. citizen in 1995, Clennon served in the Army from 1991 until August of 1997. The same month he got out of uniform, he immediately hired on to the U.S. Army as a civilian professional employee. He later deployed with U.S. Forces to Southwest Asia in support of combat operation in the region. His work included setting up plants that repaired blown-up armored vehicles, serving on a transition team when American soldiers began leaving Iraq, and overseeing contractors and major budgets. “The soldiers depended on deployed civilians like me to get certain things done so they could function more effectively,” Clennon says. “That’s how the Army runs today.”
A series of heart attacks suffered during a 10-day rest and recreation stint in the U.S. sidetracked, but did not stop Clennon. (Earlier, he also lost a kidney to disease.) As a federal employee and as a veteran, his health issues led to early disability retirement from public service.
Enter Peggy Poindexter, an Air Force veteran with over 20 years as a Federal Government civilian. Poindexter, whom Clennon met in Iraq, had volunteered in 2004 to work in Iraq with the Corp of Engineers; she also worked in Iraq, as a contractor from 2006 to 2010. Both were financially comfortable when they left the service. Both wanted to give back to men and women in uniform.
So the two became business partners, starting ACE Home Health Care, LLC. The company currently serves Madison County and the surrounding counties, providing residents, especially veterans, with affordable non-skilled home health services. Clennon describes their business as the only Veteran Administration-verified, veteran-owned home health care company in the state.
He contends the biggest challenge for a returning veteran is health care access and affordability. “A lot of guys come back and they don’t have any money,” he says. “Some are disabled and some are sick. Sometimes they don’t have anybody there to help them do everyday living kind of stuff.” The Veteran Administration’s Aids and Attendance fund helps, but “that money can’t go very far with a regular commercial company’s rates,” he says. That is why ACE offers affordable services to veterans and their spouses. “If I can break even, I’m satisfied when it comes to a veteran,” Clennon says.
At first, the company specialized in offering such non-skilled services as housekeeping, meal preparation, and transportation. However, the goal was always to offer skilled home health services, requiring approval for a certificate of need. “You cannot apply for a certificate if there is no need,” he says, “and the need has to have been assessed by the state planning board.” The board had already decided there was a need when ACE Home Health Care applied. Yet three major home health companies, each with deep pockets, contested the application.
The opposing companies claimed the need for skilled home health care services were already being fully met. Clennon contends their objections were designed to squash ACE as a competitor. “Madison County has not seen a new home health CON license in eight years because of these legal maneuvers,” the small business owner says. He and Poindexter chose to fight, spending over $100,000 of their personal funds on legal and other related-fees.
On December 12, 2012, they won. ACE Home Health Care, LLC received approval for the certificate of need.
“Now I will be able to get referrals from all of the hospitals and doctors’ offices,” says a jubilant Clennon. If a patient needs follow-up care after surgery, ACE Home Health Care staff can dress wounds, give injections, clear tubes, and offer other skilled care options. “I can hire registered nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists, and occupational therapists as well as medical and social workers,“ he says.
Of his mission, he says, “You can’t help but want to help a soldier in every way that you can.” After all, he adds, “I’ve been in the bunkers with them.”
In the time since Clennon won CON approval, the large competitors filed an appeal with the Alabama Circuit Court in hopes of overturning the CON. So now, Clennon’s fight to care for veterans continues.