Today we’d like to introduce you to Derrick Love-Jones.
Derrick, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
For a long time I dreamed of becoming a Registered Nurse. After my battle with a rare form cancer called malignant schwannoma I was blessed to be cared for by a wonderful team of doctors and nurses at Wilford Hall Medical Facility in San Antonio, TX. The nurses that cared for me left a life-long impression on my life that made me the man I am today. After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force I became a firefighter/paramedic and remained in that career for 15 years before being accepted as a nursing student at UT-Arlington.
I spent four years trying to determine what kind of nurse I wanted to be. But, my entrepreneur spirit continually swelled up inside of me and I began researching the “veteran first” government contracting program within the Department of Veteran Affairs. After much research I found a niche that fit well with my chosen career path of caring for others, only it would be caring for my fellow veterans. Katrina, my wife and I had a plan.
After graduating from UT-Arlington with my BSN in 2010, I worked for two of the largest dialysis companies in the nation building my nursing and leadership skills; at the same time, going to Nurse Practitioner school full-time. I graduated from the University of South Alabama in 2013 with my Nurse Practitioner degree in primary care. I opened my first primary care clinic in 2014 in south Dallas and my second primary care clinic in Houston in 2015.
In 2017 my company was awarded four contracts to manage, own and operate primary care clinics for the Department of Veteran Affairs. Before the end of the year we expect to be awarded an additional two primary care clinics. Next year we expect to double the number of current primary care clinics we manage, own and operate for the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Has it been a smooth road?
Building a business is never a smooth road. Because you formulate in your mind how your plan should go, but inevitably that plan changes and continues to change as you move along that continuum. Some of the struggles my team and I went through in the beginning was cash flow management, making sure we billed our services timely, and putting out small fires with employees or unhappy patients.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Primary Care Solutions story. Tell us more about the business.
Primary Care Solutions (PCS) is a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) that manages, owns and operates Community Based Outpatient Clinics or simply primary care clinics for veterans only. PCS provides the facility, equipment, furnishings, supplies, staff and oversight of the clinics for the Department of Veterans Affairs. PCS is the first SDVOSB to be awarded these types of contracts in the nation. Not only are we the first but PCS was awarded three contracts at the same time, which in our area of expertise is unheard of.
Our motto is “Veterans caring for Veterans”. This motto is infused in the culture of the company, and into every employee. PCS employees have the honor everyday of caring for our nation’s veteran population, many of whom have fought in wars dating back to the World War II. Being a service-disabled veteran myself, I make it a number one priority to make every veteran feel like they are part of the PCS family.
Recently, PCS partnered with an organization by the name of People Uplifting People In Life to bring veterans in Taos, NM the Hero’s Hangout. Hero’s hangout is a resource and recreational hangout where veterans can come and partake in computer training, healthcare training, art classes, shoot pool or just hang out and watch TV. But most of all it is a place where they can come and be with others like themselves that understand what they have been through or where they are coming from. This is what I am most proud of as a company and what set us apart from others in the same arena we are in.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
In our area of expertise, there was a major shake-up in October 2016 when the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Department of Veterans Affairs in a case called the, “Kingdomware Decision”. The Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the Department of Veterans Affairs violated its own rule of putting veterans first when it comes to government contracting. This decision was a huge win for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) and already has proven to be a major boon to SDVOSBs and VOSBs, ultimately resulting in billions of extra dollars flowing to veteran-owned companies.
A prime example is PCS, because of this decision we were able to break into this market and expect to be a major player in this industry for many years to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.primary-caresolutions.com
- Phone: 469-634-1800
Image Credit:
Photos by: Bryan Chatlien
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