10-Year Anniversary Blog: The Story of Optimum Pediatric Services

To make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you, all it takes is for one person to believe deeply that they can make a change. The story of Optimum Pediatric Services begins with lifelong nurse Mirtha Lafontant saying one transformative sentence.

 “There’s always something we can do.”

In 2016, the Lafontant family was presented with an opportunity to change their lives and their community for the better. Mirtha Lafontant and her adult children, Chidley, Luddy, and Kerline, all had experience serving their community either through the medical field or the military. With a family full of nurses and people wanting to make a change, they felt an undeniable push to provide compassionate pediatric care for medically fragile children in the state of Georgia.

“We felt that we could bring our resources together and build something centered around families — both the families we serve and the nurses who care for them,” said Chidley Lafontant, CEO of OPS. 

That vision was shared across the entire Lafontant family. Luddy (Lafontant) Fequiere and Kerline (Lafontant) Davidson played key roles in shaping the organization’s foundation, each contributing their own experience, perspective, and commitment to building a culture rooted in compassion and support.

Ten years later, the Lafontant family is full of gratitude and hope as they reflect on the company's journey and its remarkable new milestone of serving more than 45 counties in the state of Georgia. Though this 10-year milestone is exciting to everyone on the OPS team, it is nothing compared to the success, happiness, and gratification shared over the children they have successfully treated and graduated from their care program in the last decade.

One of the most impactful patient stories for Chidley was when he met a 1.3-pound newborn for the first time. He recalls that the child was “smaller than the palm of my hand” and was dependent on a trach and ventilator when OPS first began caring for him. Now, Chidley says, “The child is thriving and does not need any nursing support at all.”

He then reflected on more moments that left an imprint on his heart, specifically recalling a time when a local hospital called his team to care for a child who was practically living in the facility due to declining health conditions. “In one year, the child went from being in the hospital 275 days, and under our services, he was only in the hospital 21 days. That was the deep level of care we were providing,” said Chidley.

Reflecting on the company’s beginnings, Mirtha explained the company name, saying that, “[Our families] believe that we live by our name. Optimum. And, we provide optimum care for those children.”

Though the OPS team is focused on improving the lives of medically fragile children, the nurses also take on another important role when they step into the homes of their clients: emotionally supporting the parents and family as a whole.

For nurse Kimberly Thomas, one of her greatest responsibilities, besides providing medical care for the children she works with, is giving parents relief and hope. She says, “There's always really, really bad nerves when they first come home [from the hospital] with their baby or child for the first time. It's all new to them, and they're very nervous. It’s up to me to keep them calm and just teach them everything I know and work with them to get through it all.”

As nurse Thomas reflected on all the children she has served who no longer need nursing support, she shared, “It just makes me know that my choice of being a nurse was the right one.” 

Being a family business that revolves around helping other families through complex pediatric cases, the OPS team of nurses, caregivers, and executive staff commonly refers to themselves and the people they serve as the “OPS Family.” Chidley expressed that being a family business has largely shaped the company’s approach to serving clients and even employees. 

“It was pretty evident, very early on, that we were going to make a community,” said Chidley. 

There is a unique parallel between all the employees at OPS and how they relate to each member of the families they serve. Many of the nurses and executive staff have earned different roles and titles in their own lives, such as “parent,” “sister,” or “brother.” So, when evaluating the family-centric approach that OPS offers, every decision, piece of advice, and conversation is guided by empathy for being in someone else’s shoes.  

Additionally, caring for each nurse as a whole person, not just an employee, has been extremely important to the Lafontant family. In fact, one of the reasons Mirtha pushed her family to start OPS was to help some of her children take control of the burnout they were experiencing in their healthcare careers. From the beginning, work-life balance has been a priority at OPS. Chidley explained how OPS nurses care for everyone else, so it’s important for their nurses to be taken care of, too.  

As OPS continues to grow, Chidley hopes the next decade will bring national expansion, enabling it to care for more children across the United States and even become the number one agency for pediatric home care in the country. 

When asked what nurse Thomas would say to the families who have trusted OPS, her answer was confident and clear: “What I can say to the families that have trusted OPS is that they made an excellent choice.” 

Mirtha and Chidley both expressed immense gratitude for the families who have chosen OPS to be a part of their child’s healing journey. To all the families OPS has served, Chidley says, “Thank you for allowing us to enter into your homes and trusting us with something that is such a vulnerable part of your life.” 

Chidley, Mirtha, Kerline, and Luddy carry immense gratitude for every child and family who has been part of the OPS journey. And in many ways, that gratitude brings the story full circle — back to the belief that started it all:  

“There’s always something we can do.”