AGS Rehab Solutions is a nationally recognized leader in the delivery of health management solutions—chiefly disability management, assessment, and return-to-work solutions—for its clients across Canada including employers, insurers, law firms, and government agencies who seek its support in navigating complex regulatory frameworks.
From a foundation of caring, powered by its people and supported by a network of qualified professionals and an understanding of a client’s needs, AGS has devised a system and approach that protects people and businesses by getting people back to health, back to work, and back to optimal productivity.
25 years
Since 1999, AGS Rehab Solutions has provided clients with customized workplace solutions that enhance lives and maximize potential. From a single contract to a national reputation in 25 years, the company has come a long way.
Asked to reflect on the company’s 25-year milestone, President and Founder Addie Greco-Sanchez explains, “When I thought about this company, I never imagined that it would stand for anything more than just my name, so it really is exciting to be here. I started the business myself, in my home, in my basement, with one customer and one assignment,” she says, crediting her perseverance and determination as the catalyst for the company’s growth and success from that point onwards.
In no time, Greco-Sanchez was hiring an administrator and independent consultants, and in 2010, secured the company’s first major contract. This necessitated hiring on a more serious scale.
“Our growth has been really organic in terms of the evolution, but we’ve also taken some long shots and have won some large contracts, which has really helped with our growth,” she says. This is largely due to AGS’s unique structure and approach, but also the company’s culture and founding ethos, which continue to serve it well as it expands its services to clients across the country.
Needs and solutions
AGS is different from many others in the market in offering a multitude of services under one umbrella, which enables it to customize solutions to the needs of its clients, as no two problems are the same. From the prevention of—and the response to—mental health claims, to assessments of its clients’ potential psychological health and safety risks by accepted standards, AGS helps clients navigate complex regulatory environments with ease and efficiency, protecting employees and the bottom line.
AGS can develop, or review and revise, policies and procedures to integrate psychological health and safety, while also raising awareness through internal training in line with the National Standard of Canada on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Drawing on its network of certified professionals, AGS offers expertise, resources, and support to facilitate case management services, return-to-work coordination, disability management services, and the provision of clinical and medical assessments.
“We have a network of about 600 assessors across the country and they can be anything from a psychiatrist to a kinesiologist—whatever it takes to look at making a medical opinion in the case if that’s what we need to determine a fit for work or looking at case management,” says Greco-Sanchez, which enables more efficient case resolution.
One of the things that makes AGS different in a highly competitive market is its managed care approach. Its full suite of services offers comprehensive support to its clients through what is often a challenging time for all stakeholders involved.
“The most important piece that differentiates us is the way we manage that claim, in that we’re not just very aggressively stating that people have to go back to work and that’s it. We work to support that individual so that the return to work is successful and they’re not coming back on claim in two months,” Greco-Sanchez explains. “People want to work with a company that’s not only looking at what we can do to get people back to work as quickly as is possible for them but to use a kid-glove approach,” which, she points out, requires a careful balance of care and safety but also speed and timeliness.
From the managed care approach AGS takes with its clients to its own company culture, its mission is to help others, and this continues to motivate the work of the company today, permeating all that it does.
“Our philosophy is that work is healthy, work is good,” Greco-Sanchez says. “My background is in social services and for me it was always about helping people, and with that in mind, growing the business. But always with a passion for ‘How we can help people?’ AGS asks, ‘What do we need to do to get them back into work?’ And of course, we’re always remembering that we’re working with customers who are employers, insurers, and looking at how we can help mitigate their costs when there are absences, so people can get back to work safely and on time.”
Supporting mental health
A big part of the company culture that is mirrored in the work AGS does is maintaining an emphasis on mental health in the workplace, which is especially important as can be seen by the rate of mental health claims through Sun Life, which have grown by almost 70 percent between 2019 and 2022. This was especially prevalent during and after the COVID pandemic as isolation, uncertainty, and challenging economic conditions proved to be corrosive to the mental health and well-being of many.
Whether mental health was getting worse, or the work done around destigmatization led to greater reporting, it has become endemic and something that employers have no choice but to address head-on.
Sun Life found that 40 percent of long-term disability claims are for women versus 30 percent for men, trends that were found based on paramedical and drug claims from over three million Canadians. This rate of disability claims, and the related sick leave impact, can be very costly for employers through lost productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism, disability, and medical and insurance costs. As AGS’ website notes, “Given that one in five Canadians will develop a mental illness in their lifetime, the likelihood of an individual facing a mental health issue in the workplace is real.”
AGS offers its clients ways to mitigate the impact of mental health issues in the workplace and is living proof that this approach works, being the recipient of the 2017 Canada Awards for Excellence Gold for its work in the Mental Health at Work® category and shares its best practices in the implementation of the National Standard of Canada on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.
“People want to work for a company that is going to look after them, and work-life balance is huge. Psychological balance and safety are huge, and we recognize that. We were one of the first 40 organizations in Canada to implement a National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace in Canada,” says Greco-Sanchez, who authored The 5-Minute Recharge—a book and a mindset that continues to prioritize mental health and wellness as part of AGS’s strategic plan moving forward.
“My philosophy is if you treat people well, they will give you 200 percent back,” she says. “That’s always been my experience and that’s how it’s worked for us.”
Collaborative effort
People are at the heart of AGS’s operations and success. Its experts range from certified disability management professionals to vocational rehabilitation consultants, psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, kinesiologists, and other specialists who can offer responsive and accountable assessments to expedite claims and support the return-to-work process.
As Greco-Sanchez notes, “Every day that a person is off work is a day that’s costing an employer or an insurer money, so we want to get that person back as quickly as we possibly can.”
Further to speed and efficiency, AGS takes great care to ensure the confidentiality and information security of its clients and utilizes state-of-the-art technology to uphold standards of communication. “We work with personal health information, so data security is paramount. Creating efficiencies, utilizing technology, and increasing our data reporting capabilities is also a major goal, and then always working with that end goal of ensuring that we have excellent data. AI is changing things and we’re looking at how we can interface in a way that will help us to continue to expand the business,” says Greco-Sanchez.
This is only possible because of the team AGS has assembled. For Greco-Sanchez, people are its number one resource, and she credits her team with being “really gifted, dedicated professionals who move our business forward every single day. We have done an amazing job of expanding our footprint and recruiting.”
Although it has scaled to accommodate the company’s growth, AGS’s 25-strong team is still relatively small considering the effect it has on behalf of clients nationwide.
“Small team, big impact—it’s very much our motto,” says Greco-Sanchez. Nevertheless, she continues to look for growth for the team and its capabilities—and of course, its ability to get people back to work so that clients everywhere rejoice in a state of optimal productivity.
