November is National Home Care Month
Staff writer
It’s a service most of us don’t think about, or even know about, until it’s needed.
Marion County Home Care has being providing home health services to Marion County residents for nearly 30 years.
Director Janet Herzet has been with the department for 19 of those years.
Among the changes she’s seen include funding requirements, particularly government, and an updated assessment tool.
“To receive home care services, an individual must qualify,” Herzet said, through an assessment.
There are many facets to the program including home health, home care, and personal care.
Home health is designed for patients who typically are homebound and require skilled visits.
Services include skilled nursing where nurses provide assessments, teaching, medication monitoring and care coordination. They also provide treatment of a variety of illnesses and conditions, physical and occupational therapies and speech pathology, and personal care which includes assistance with activities of daily living, personal hygiene, and other services to promote health and safety.
“Mini-care” is when a patient requests hourly, private pay services from nurses, home health aides, homemakers, or companions.
Homemakers may do household chores, shopping, meal preparation, cleaning, and other services.
A wide range of home medical equipment also is offered for sale or rent. Canes, wheelchairs, and portable oxygen systems are available.
Infusion therapy is provided by specially skilled infusion nurses. Comprehensive infusion therapy can be safely delivered at home.
By providing these services temporarily or ongoing, patients are able to stay in their homes instead of moving to a long-term care facility. Often these patients need assistance following a fall or illness, just long enough to recover. Other times, it is the last step before being admitted to a skilled nursing center.
Services are available 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
“A registered nurse is just a phone call away,” Herzet said.
Medicare, Medicaid, and many private pay insurance companies can help pay for services.
Whether the service is temporary or long-term, Herzet said Marion County Home Care is committed to providing quality home care to all county residents.
And they’re doing something right. For the past two years, Marion County Home Care has been chosen as a Home Care Elite Agency because of the commitment to quality care.
“We look at the total picture of the patient to provide the best possible service,” she said.