This Man Gave His Employees a $20 Million Holiday Gift

Just before Thanksgiving, 100 BAYADA Home Health Care employees were treated to a gratitude lunch at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. They received a lot more than just a free lunch.

BAYADA’s founder, in a very emotional speech, announced that he was giving his employees a very special early holiday gift. “I’m taking $20 million, dividing it up and giving it to everybody,” Mark Baiada, the company’s founder, tearfully told the crowd. “I wanted to show some gratitude to everybody for all the hard work you’ve done taking care of our clients.”

The $20 million, which came out of Baiada’s own pocket, will be distributed among all the clinicians, nurses, social workers, home health aides, therapists, managers, office support and other staff in the 22 US states in which the company operates.

The gifts were based on the employees’ lifetime earnings with the company. People who have been with BAYADA for years will receive tens of thousands of dollars. Even new employees who just started with the company will receive $50. This is a lot more than the usual bonuses or gifts that other companies give out for the holidays.

The employees were overwhelmed by the announcement from their boss and many were in tears. Just as he expressed gratitude for the work they do, they also expressed gratitude for the gifts they received.

Cassandra Freeman has been working at the company for 38 years and is a night nurse for a quadriplegic patient. Her gift was $6,500. She told CBS Philly that she loves what she does. She said the gift was wonderful and that she could really use it. Freeman intends to help her two college-aged children and buy badly needed new tires for her car

When Baiada founded his company over 43 years ago, he had only $16,000 in savings and a mission to help people live at home independently and with dignity. Today, BAYADA Home Health Care is a $1.4 billion company with 26,000 employees.

Compassionate care is more than just a saying for this health care company. It had a vision for people to experience a better quality of life. To do so, BAYADA sought to build the world’s most compassionate and trusted team of healthcare professionals.

Now, he is turning the company into a nonprofit organization so that they can put mission over money. This is believed to be the first transition of its kind in the home health care industry.

The upcoming change of status is the reason why Baiada decided to gift his employees. “BAYADA is a special company full of employees who are all bonded together in our deep commitment to our clients,” he said. My wish is that in 100 years, we are continuing to celebrate these incredible health care professionals and the work they do to improve the lives of our clients.”

He has definitely already made a difference for the people lucky enough to work for him.