Joe Sansone: Making the Most of Life's Opportunities
Sansone (MBA '79) is making a difference for parents and children.

Pediatria looks like most daycare centers across the country – bright, colorful rooms filled with toys and the radiant smiles of children. But the difference at Pediatria is that each child is battling a medical issue requiring extra care.

Joe Sansone, a Robinson graduate, is the founder and CEO of Pediatria. "For most parents, finding good, reliable daycare is difficult, but for parents with a child who is born with a medical condition, it can be impossible," he said. That's where Pediatria comes in. It provides the same service as any other daycare, but also provides the necessary clinical services the children need.

A self-made success, Sansone grew up on the streets of Chicago and began his career as a respiratory therapist. Advancing in that profession led him to relocate to Boston, where he enrolled at Northeastern University. "I was working full-time, married with two small children, and needed a good commuter school," he said. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in health administration and was then transferred to Atlanta and began his career with Tenet Healthcare Corporation. At the same time, Sansone decided he wanted to go back to school and obtain his MBA. Once again, working full-time with the responsibilities of a family, he needed to find a good school that was flexible. "Robinson was perfect," he said. "It offered evening classes, had an incredible reputation, and wasn't too far from the airport," which came in handy since his new position required consider able travel. "I remember one time hopping a flight to Miami in the morning, turning around in the afternoon to come back to Atlanta, and making it just in the nick of time for my class."

 During his tenure with Tenet, Sansone held several senior management positions. But the entrepreneurial bug got the better of him. "I guess I always knew that I'd eventually venture out on my own," said Sansone who says that he's always looked at life as one big opportunity. "It's like Yogi Berra said, 'When you come to a fork in the road, take it.'" So, in 1989, that's what he did.

After Sansone became president and CEO of Ambulatory Services of America, Inc. (ASA), a company that focused on adult home health services and equipment, he saw an opportunity to take the company in a different direction. "There was a serious void in pediatric home care, and I thought that this was an important area where we could really make a diference." He coordinated a management buyout of the company, changing its focus and in the process carving out a niche in pediatric home health services. Under his leadership the new company Pediatric Service of America, Inc., grew from a $10 million regional company to the nation's largest pediatric home health-care organization, with revenues exceeding $240 million in 2005. He also completed a successful initial public offering in 1994 and secondary offering in 1995. But Sansone found that leading a public company wasn't quite his cup of tea. He felt as if the heart of the company had drifted, and he found himself having to worry more about compliance laws than the patients. "It's just the nature of the beast, I don't fault anyone for it, but it just wasn't for me," he said. So in 2004 at the age of 60, Sansone retired from the company he had built and looked for his next opportunity. It came two years later.

 "I had some venture capitalist offering to help me start a new company, but because of my noncompete clause I had to sit out for a while," he said. Then when the time was right, he and his partner, Joseph Harrelson, also a Georgia State graduate, started Pediatria.

 Today, along with a dedicated staff of health-care professionals, they provide day health-care services for approximately 26 families. Located just north of Atlanta, the 10,000-square-foot center boasts separate rooms for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers along with a therapy room, indoor and outdoor play areas, and office space. The company also has several in-home patients whom they service. "At the center we have children here who have feeding disorders, chronic lung disease, cardiac defects, and other life-threatening issues," he said. "And while we have an amazing staff of dedicated professionals who are trained to handle these complications, our facility is designed to look and function like a regular daycare center." That, Sansone says, is important not only for the children but also for the parents. "Obviously it's important that their children are receiving the health care that they need, but when you walk into our center it feels like a place for children – not a place for sick children."

Sansone is currently working on opening centers in other parts of the Southeast. He also keeps in touch with Robinson and Georgia State. He has set up nursing scholarships at the University and is a frequent speaker at Robinson. "I love working with the students and helping them by answering their questions and telling them about what I've learned throughout my career," he said. "And the one thing I tell them is no matter what, stay with it, persevere, because I know that if it wasn't for my MBA, I wouldn't be where I am today."

  Joe Sansone, MBA '79
   Founder and CEO,
   Pediatria