HEALTH CARE : New Face at Abbey: Speaking of new employees. . . .

Abbey Home Healthcare Inc. has a new face in its Costa Mesa office: Susan Turkell, the company’s first in-house director of investor relations and public affairs.

The 31-year-old New York native moved in Monday from a long stint with New York-based Financial Relations Board Inc., a financial public relations agency, where she juggled public relations for several companies, including Abbey, Birtcher Medical Systems in Irvine and Quantum Health Resources Inc. in Orange.

Working directly for Abbey, Turkell said, will give her a chance to focus on one firm and “be part of a corporate family.”

Turkell will coordinate information to investors for the company, which provides in-home respiratory therapy services and medical equipment for home-bound patients.

Abbey has been on the move lately, seeking to grow both internally and through hoped-for acquisitions. Although it was unsuccessful recently in taking over a larger Boston competitor, its efforts have given it international attention.