Marina Ramirez
Marina Ramirez, our owner and President, has over twenty years of professional experience in Finance, Marketing and Customer Service at both national and multinational organizations. Her professional life was guided by a commitment to exceptional quality and service.
Marina gained first-hand understanding of the difficulties of taking care of an aging parent when her mother passed away and she and her sisters became the primary caretakers of their father. He had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and after several difficult years eventually succumbed to the ravages of this disease. At the same time, she saw her mother in law struggling for many years to take care of her husband, who suffered from Parkinson’s. These heartfelt experiences made her realize the need for quality for in-home care for the elderly and moved her to create Assisting Hands Palm Beach.
Marina is an involved leader in the Palm Beach community. She has been a member of the West Palm Beach Rotary Club for many years and now also serves on the Board. Since she has both personal and professional experience with the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease, she has been involved as a Chair member of the Alzheimer’s Walk for three years in a row. In addition, she is a longtime active member of the Hispanic Chamber, lately serves as Chair of the Healthcare Committee.
Fluent in both Spanish and English, she has a BA from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and enjoys reading, gardening, traveling and sharing the simple joys of life her husband and teenage daughter.
A commitment to quality in service combined with empathy and passion ensures that at Assisting Hands® Home Care – Palm Beach we fulfill our pledge to provide “Quality Home Care You Can Trust!”
Marlien Fraga
Marlien, our nursing supervisor, has worked for many years at both hospitals and in home health. Ever since she was very young, Marlien was always fascinated by the health field. That interest intensified when her dad became sick with cancer and she helped take care of him. Marlien is a generous individual with a quick wit and a wide smile who makes those around her always feel at ease.
Verna Wagner
Verna is the glue that holds our office together. She’s been in the medical field for the past 27+ years in different capacities. Verna serves as our office manager/scheduler and effortlessly juggles client requirements, HIPAA regulations and caregiver placement with kindness, care, efficiency, compassion, and consideration. Prior to Assisting Hands, she worked in a chiropractic and rehabilitation practice where she was the office and human resources manager for a multi-location trauma and rehabilitation facility. She is well versed in patient care, client service, resource management, and has a keen eye for details.
In addition to being a Florida native, born in Ft. Lauderdale and attending school in Palm Beach County, Verna is also of Bahamian descent and enjoys traveling back to her family’s home country several times a year. She has three adult children and several grandchildren. She enjoys reading, cooking, brain puzzles and attending church with her family and also is very active in her high school classes’ multiple community causes, projects and organizations in her spare time.
Verna’s top priority is to ensure our clients are able to live at home happy, healthy and safe and that the caregivers we employ are fully compatible within the assignments they are placed so that a harmonious situation is enjoyed by both caregiver and client. She is always open to questions and concerns and handles all aspects of her duties with deep knowledge of the needs in our business and obtaining successful results.