Absolute PCA Expands Home Care to North Shore; Owners Call Growth Serendipity

Absolute PCA, owned and operated by Dean and Lisa Carsrud, is expanding home-care services onto the North Shore, including Grand Marais and Cook County, after owners describe the move as serendipity. Ten years after its founding the agency employs around 165 people and a Minnesota grant listing shows “Northeast Minnesota Absolute PCA LLC” with an award of $75,675 to support hiring, training and expansion into rural northern Minnesota and Tribal Nations.

The expansion traces to the Carsruds’ personal ties to the area and a string of chance encounters that convinced them demand was acute. Lisa Carsrud, a registered nurse who the company website says has “over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry,” said honeymooning in Grand Marais twenty-five years ago kept the North Shore on their minds. She recalled that a conversation at a local career expo and a later visit to a St. Louis County conference in Duluth were decisive - “They said how they have such a big need up there,” she stated. “For PCA services specifically and homemaking and respite, what we do, they didn’t really sound like there was any providers to do that.”

Lisa Carsrud described the origin of the agency as a family decision. “My husband said, we should start our own home care company,” she recalled. “I said that is actually a really great idea. There was a big need in our community. It was totally his idea. I got to give all the credit to him.” She added that “Being a registered nurse as my background was a godsend to start this company.”

Absolute PCA’s service menu lists the full range of Home and Community-Based Services the company plans to bring north: personal care assistance (PCA), homemaking, respite, night supervision, Independent Living Skills (ICLS) and Individualized Home Supports (IHS), plus RN admit visits, RN supervision visits, guardian services and conservator services. The company website frames those offerings as part of a person-centered approach, stating, “We believe every individual deserves respect, autonomy, and dignity regardless of age, ability, or circumstance.”

The Minnesota grant listing identifies the organization as located in Grand Rapids and explicitly ties the $75,675 award to workforce and program expansion: “They plan to use grant funds to hire, develop training, and expand services to rural northern MN, including Tribal Nations in the region.” The state entry also describes Absolute PCA as providing HCBS including homemaker services, ICLS, night supervision, PCA and respite.

Absolute PCA’s online materials underscore both clinical oversight and community-focused practice: the site notes the agency is “a nurse owned agency owned and operated by Dean and Lisa Carsrud” and that “Our Guardians/Conservators are skilled Social Workers focused on person-centered care.” The site also carries a recruitment message, “NOW HIRING! GREAT PAY AND BENEFITS! EMAIL OR CALL TO INQUIRE!”

Local case managers’ reports of limited options in Cook County and the grant-funded push to hire and train staff signal an effort to address gaps in North Shore home care capacity. As Absolute PCA places staff into Grand Marais and surrounding communities, the combination of nurse-led oversight, an existing workforce of about 165 employees, and state funding for recruitment and training will determine how quickly services such as RN admit visits and respite reach rural households and Tribal partners.