Meet Owner Dorie Sugay

Prior to running Visiting Angels, Dorie was the Principal Consultant and Owner of S2S Solutions which provided Human Resource consulting services to the high tech and medical industries. Her many years working with top companies in the Bay Area and the rare opportunity she had being mentored by Silicon Valley icons sharpened her skills and well-prepared her for her role as the Executive Director. Passionate about successful aging (and inspired by her grandfather who passionately lived to be 110 years old), Dorie championed her mission through her column “Growing Wiser” in Out and About Magazine and “Aging with an Attitude” in Gilroy-Morgan Hill Today.

Her writings have been published in the Gilroy Dispatch and other newsletters. (She was voted “Best Columnist” by readers of her columns). A humanitarian, Dorie was an active member and an officer of the Rotary Club of Gilroy and the Elks Lodge for many years, a lay minister at St. Mary Parish, and continues to actively help those in need in the Community as a volunteer and as a financial supporter. She is grateful for community awards she has received, but remains focused on one thought—to give back for blessings received.

Because of her leadership and the great team she has been blessed with, Visiting Angels Gilroy, truly lives up to the vision she has focused on – to provide exemplary, compassionate care that surpasses the expected. Visiting Angels Gilroy continues to grow despite the economy because it has been true to its mission – its team truly goes beyond the call of duty.

The Visiting ANGELS team has been blessed to have retired nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants, and experienced caregivers. New Angels working on their wings are only assigned to a family after thorough training and are provided one-on-one coaching.

The Angels are all registered with the State of California. The Department of Social Services conducts thorough screening of their Live Scan results, which compliments thorough reference checking the company conducts.

Even before the State required continuous education, Visiting Angels Gilroy started its own “Angel University” as far back as 2008. Expanding the knowledge and observation skills of caregivers because the company believes in going beyond the call of duty has been a good move—the company has been credited by local physicians to have successfully saved seven (7) lives in its years of operation…all because the caregivers knew just a tad more.

The caregivers are not the only ones expected to continually expand on their knowledge to continually strive for excellence in service. Dorie went back to school to finish her Master’s in Psychology, focusing her research on mental health issues that affect older adults and has been coaching families who struggle with the challenges of dementia or other mental health concerns. (Her experience and education has also allowed Visiting Angels Gilroy to be a mini-cognition testing site for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America). All staff members also have home care/medical training and/or experience!

As Dorie says, “Visiting Angels Gilroy recognizes that the path to excellence is a tricky one. The team respects reality by weaving into its philosophy, policies, processes and systems, the concept of “kaizen”- a Japanese concept of continuous improvement. We believe that excellence can be achieved through consistent, focused, unwavering attempt to improve, that the mission to provide the best must be ingrained in our everyday contributions. This is what you may expect of our team. For your patience, your acceptance, your recognition of our humanity – we are confident that you will be as happy as our clients have been!”