Phillips named CEO of Thrive SPC

Published 9:47 am Thursday, October 14, 2021

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Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care (Thrive SPC), a national provider of clinical home care for medically fragile children, named Melinda Phillips its new president and CEO on Oct. 1.

It named a new CFO, Quinby Squire, earlier this year.

Retiring President and CEO Bob Creamer has been with Thrive SPC since its start in 2016, first as a board member and then as CEO at the start of the pandemic.

“When I took on the CEO role, my goals were to build a strong, comprehensive, and cohesive leadership team; focus resources to best support our clinicians in the field; and create organizational clarity with systems and processes designed for homecare,” said Creamer.

He worked to support and build an executive management team of eight, five of whom are women.

“I step aside knowing that the organization is in great hands with the current senior leadership team. I am very pleased our board of directors accepted my recommendation that Melinda become CEO. We are the only major provider with both a female CEO and a female CFO. Given the homecare industry is predominantly female, we now have a leadership team that resembles our workforce—it’s about time.”

Phillips is a North Carolina native with many years of home health experience across the country and North Carolina, including the Charlotte and Winston-Salem markets. Phillips came to Thrive SPC in 2020 after a long successful career at BAYADA Home Health Care. She earned a master’s in leadership and change management from Pfeiffer University and a bachelor’s in communications from Western Carolina University.

A resident of Mocksville, she has two adult daughters, Aspen and Charleigh, and a husband, Eric, who owns and operates Skinny Wheels Bike Shop in Salisbury.

“I look forward to continuing to fulfill our purpose alongside our senior leadership team,” said Phillips. “I started at an entry-level position in home health 27 years ago. Many people believed in and invested in me along the way. I have a deep-seated desire to do the same—to create pathways of opportunity for others, be a strong mentor, and commit to invest in our people.

“Caring for children and supporting their families is the most rewarding and important job there is. I’ve always been passionate about taking care of those on the frontlines—our nurses, therapists, home health aides, and delivery techs. Working together, I believe we have an opportunity to become the industry leader,” said Phillips.

Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care (www.thrivespc.com), which has a national resource center in Wakefield, Mass., provides home care, therapy services, and durable medical equipment and nutrition supplies to medically fragile and developmentally challenged children in more than 30 locations in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas.