A Tale of Two Cities
How Cambridge Caregivers Supported a Client in Dallas and Houston
Opening a new office in Houston in June 2024 expanded Cambridge Caregivers’ reach in ways the team could only imagine.
As expected, the new office meant serving more families in the Houston area with concierge-level in-home caregiving services. But it also opened the door to something new: helping Dallas-based clients who must travel to Houston for specialized medical care.
That possibility became reality when staff from the Dallas and Houston offices recently teamed up to support a client— a dynamic and energetic businesswoman in her late 70s who lives independently in Dallas. (To protect her privacy, we’ll call her “Terry.”)
Terry is active, and still working, but a cancer diagnosis four months ago required her to undergo a series of surgical procedures at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She made her first two trips with the help of a close friend, but when that friend wasn’t available for her third surgery, Terry’s concierge physician, Dr. Jaime Vasquez, referred her to Cambridge Caregivers.
That’s when Lisa Kramer Morgan, client care coordinator in Dallas, and Alex Cox-Cuzzi, client care coordinator in Houston, sprang into action. Together, they built a plan to ensure Terry would not only get to Houston safely and comfortably, but also have the continuous and coordinated support she needed before, during and after her procedure.
Building the Plan
Lisa knew that traveling alone for surgery was stressful enough, without the added hassle of airports. She suggested Vonlane, a luxury motor coach service billed as a “private jet on wheels.”
“I reserved a seat for her on Vonlane because it’s easier,” Lisa said. “If you fly, by the time you get to the airport, check in, and go through security, it’s a lot more complicated. My parents have taken Vonlane and really enjoyed it. For Terry, who was already anxious, it made everything simpler.”
Lisa drove Terry to the Dallas Vonlane departure point the day before her surgery. When she arrived in Houston, Alex was waiting. She drove her to M.D. Anderson for pre-op labs, made a quick stop at a grocery store and settled her into her hotel. Then a Houston-based caregiver stepped in.
“I had a full agenda created that detailed every step—from the moment I put her on the Vonlane on Wednesday to Alex meeting her in Houston and introducing her to the caregiver who would stay overnight,” Lisa said. “We were all on a constant text thread. At one point one of the caregivers even sent us pictures of Terry smiling and doing well! That level of team communication put her at ease.”
Care Through Every Step
That evening, the caregiver took Terry to dinner and stayed overnight to ensure she wasn’t alone. The next morning, the caregiver drove her to the hospital for the day surgery and remained by her side throughout the recovery process.
“Our caregivers were there for companion care as well as a precaution,” Lisa explained. “Anesthesia can be a dangerous and disorienting experience for older people. Some may experience memory loss. It’s always important to have someone keeping an eye on a patient for the first 48 hours after surgery, but it’s especially important for older adults.”
Terry’s surgery was on Thursday, and she recovered in her hotel until Saturday morning, when she boarded the Vonlane back to Dallas. Another caregiver met her in Dallas, transported her home, and ensured her recovery environment was safe and comfortable, neatening up her apartment, and handling meal prep and grocery shopping.
“This arrangement also allowed Terry to receive continuity of care,” said Alex. “All of us—Lisa, myself, and the caregivers—were in constant communication. That way, Terry always had someone looking out for her, and she never felt alone.”
The collaboration also allowed Terry to focus on healing instead of logistics.
“She’s a strong, successful woman who is used to taking charge,” Lisa said. “But cancer treatment and surgery are stressful, and this time she needed someone else to take charge. We were honored to do that for her.”
A Broader Impact
People travel to Houston from across the country for treatment at the Texas Medical Center and M.D. Anderson. The scale and specialization available there make it one of the leading destinations for patients seeking advanced cancer care, heart procedures and neurological treatments. For North Texans like Terry, that often means arranging travel and accommodations on top of managing the medical stress of surgery.
With “boots on the ground” in both Dallas and Houston – and soon, in Austin – Cambridge Caregivers make these complex situations easier to navigate, by a providing coordinated, concierge-level approach to clients who need medical care across Texas.
Afterward, Terry called Lisa and said she couldn’t have done it without the Cambridge Caregivers team.
“That’s what sets us apart,” Lisa said. “We’re still small enough to think outside the box and create customized plans for our clients. This took a lot of coordination, but in the end, Terry got where she needed to be—safely, on time, and with the care she needed every step of the way.”