Ever since she was a child, Maria Santiago has been focused on caring for people. She would make homemade herb bundles and cough syrups for people that attended her church and enjoyed caring for her aging great-grandparents, who raised her.
“I always knew that something in the medical field was my calling. Not a doctor, per se, but a nurse or aide. I’ve always loved caring for people,” said the CEO of The Home Health Aide Training Institute (HHATI), who went on to become a home health aide herself.
Santiago’s mother was a natural nurse who cared for the people around her using her techniques. It’s no surprise that she grew up to enter the health aide field, one that she has excelled in for over 25 years.
Her efforts toward providing true care to patients at the end of their lives have garnered national attention. Santiago was recently presented with the Presidential Tribute of Excellence Award by US President Joe Biden. She was recognized for offering among the best education courses in various healthcare fields through HHATI.
From Aide to CEO
It was Santiago’s pure joy in caring for others that led her to open her own healthcare training company, The Home Health Aide Training Institute.
“I had a home care agency where I would send our certified folks out to care for people. One day, I got a call from someone who was looking for a school nurse and was in a bind. He said, ‘I have a school, and the nurse did not show up,’” Santiago said. “I decided to assist with that project and found an even deeper passion for caring and learning that led me to open a training institute for industry professionals.”
Having her own company led her to learn how to care for people even more deeply. She prefaced every decision with the question, ‘If it was the end of their life, how can we make this the best for them?’
About the Institute
Nationally recognized by the New York State Education Department, The Home Health Aide Training Institute (HHATI) teaches students from 17 to 65 years old.
In the six years they’ve been open, HHATI has graduated a whopping 3,000 students, who are now living and working across the country, applying the techniques they learned by Santiago’s side.
Whether students choose the 40-hour Personal Care Assistance (PCA) course, the 83-hour Home Health Aide (HHA) course, the 125-hour Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) course, Coordinator courses, or Infection Control training, it is sure that they will get the country’s best — and most caring — instruction.
About Maria Santiago
Maria Santiago is the CEO and Director of Home Health Aide Training Institute (HHATI), which trains and certifies home health aides, PCAs and CNAs. She recently won the Presidential Tribute of Excellence Award and her team has taught over 3,000 students to date. For more information, please visit www.hhati.com
