Valencia firm expands as it caters to growing population of elderly.

Thirteen percent of the United States population is elderly. and as more boomers reach retirement age. that percentage will rise to 20 percent to 25 percent.

Valencia's Shield Health Care is poised to profit off of this graying of the population.

The distributor of over 6,000 products to assist with a range of conditions from incontinence to nutrition support, Shield allows patients to be cared for at home rather than in hospitals, an option that increasingly becomes more appetizing to consumers each year.

With its growth hovering between 20 percent to 25 percent a year over the past decade, Shield has become the largest supplier of its kind in California. The company has outgrown its current locations (two sites in Valencia) and has just leased a 110,000 square foot facility in Valencia's Mann Biomedical Park.

"More and more people are being cared for at home and this has created a need to have medical products that allow for it. It's more economical for the government to have people at home than in the hospitals and most people would prefer it," Jennifer Puleo, Shield's director of human resources said. Shield currently employs 310 people at its facilities and plans to add between 50 to 75 jobs in the coming year. The positions will be in customer service and management.

Such growth doesn't surprise industry experts, many of whom forecast exponential growth as the baby boom generation begins to age.

"California has the most elderly people in the nation and people's preferences are to stay at home and to buy products that help them remain independent. That is probably a value that won't change," said Janet Frank, assistant director for academic programs at the UCLA School of Medicine, division of geriatric medicine and gerontology.