Gale force: Health tech firm steps up for storm-battered clients

Tony Braswell, the founder and CEO of Gale Healthcare, which styles itself “Uber for nurses,” is well aware of the needs of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. His Tampa-based company has created a mobile platform that connects chronically understaffed health care institutions with nurses who are available to pick up extra work — and it’s been a massive success, catapulting Gale Healthcare onto the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing privately owned companies.

So, when it became apparent that Hurricane Ian was going to be a major threat to nursing homes and their patients in Southwest Florida, Braswell and Scot Morrison, the firm’s regional director of operations, ordered $15,000 worth of essential supplies — antibacterial wipes, adult diapers, socks, shirts, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc. — from Amazon and delivered them to five hard-hit facilities in Fort Myers and Naples after the storm passed.