COVER STORY
laboratories. So that is why Eudora Healthcare is basically
becoming a healthcare system. They keep adding healthcare businesses, products, and services bringing them under one umbrella and leveraging synergies between all of
them.
They are also working on product development and distribution. There’s a product that they are currently in the process of developing in production with some other partners
that they hope to bring to market that will help the geriatric
population. Kenny hopes to continue growing and developing in the healthcare space by acquiring and developing
ancillary healthcare services. Kenny expounded, “The word
Eudora means generous gift. With the health and welfare
of our patients at the core, we hope that we are giving our
patients a gift, a gift of a good experience, a gift of health, a
gift of healing. We hope to impart that on our patients and
conversely we also receive that satisfaction from doing good
work. When our patients are satisfied, when our patients
have good results, it’s a gift to us.”
Eudora Healthcare’s chain of pharmacies does specialty
compounding. In addition, they also have testing laboratories and physical therapy and occupational therapy services.
What sets them apart is definitely the patient experience.
“We want the rehabilitation experience to be a nice experience,” says Kenny. “Our facilities feel more like a spa than a
clinic. They look nice; they are a nice size; and they are very
comfortable. We spent a little extra money and time really making the patient experience that much more pleasant
and our staff is second to none. We really treat patients like
human beings, like they are part of our family!” On the horizon, Kenny hopes to put a full service hospital in operation
with links to ancillary health services.
In the future, Eudora Healthcare may do medical trials.
They’ve actually been approached to do that but with everything else going on, it hasn’t happened yet even though
it’s on the radar. Within pharmacy operations, Kenny credits his right-hand person, Nirvana Hightower, “to make the
right decisions for me. She’s the pharmacist in charge and
runs the operations there. The buck stops with her. We
communicate daily as needed and I’m usually there at least
twice a month for meetings at the facilities. My phone is
always ringing; I’m always available for any sort of questions.
10 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ AUGUST 2015 ]
I typically set the vision and set the direction but I trust Nirvana to lead the execution of that.”
When asked about mentorship along the way, Kenny stated, “I’m not even sure if he knows it but his name is Dr. Bernard Harris. He was gracious enough to take a meeting from
a young, newly minted MBA graduate who was looking to
conquer the world. In the mist of all he was working on, he
took several meetings with me and didn’t time box them at
all. We talked for hours and he gave me a lot of insight into
the attitude I had to have in order to do what I’m doing now.
It’s an attitude of the world doesn’t owe you anything; you
have to make a decision; you have to do it; and you have to
just make it happen anyway that you can. No one’s going to
write you a check; no one’s going to finance your plan. You
have to figure out a way to make it happen. That was very
instrumental in preparing me for what lie ahead.”
People always ask Kenny if he ever plans to retire but he
quickly responds, “I’m just having too much fun running
and growing the business.” He also adds that he is glad that
he married he wife and equally glad that he picked the right
partners. Kenny states, “I would say the best thing I have
ever done was have good employees and good partners.
That has made all the difference in the world.”
Passionate about giving back to the community, Kenny
finds deep satisfaction in gift-giving to the community. In
the works for the future, Kenny is establishing the Eudora
Foundation that is going to be geared toward helping young
people who have high potential in achieving their goals,
whatever that may be. Meanwhile, Kenny supports the
Smarht Girl Fou