Audrain City-County Health Unit
Home Health & Hospice
605 East Promenade
P.O. Box 957
Mexico, Missouri 65265
573-581-6060 or
1-866-581-5200 toll free
Audrain City-County Health Unit provides a full range of Home Health & Hospice services throughout our service area (within thirty miles of Mexico), including the counties of:
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Audrain |
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Boone |
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Callaway |
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Monroe |
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Montgomery |
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Pike |
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Ralls |
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Randolph |
Home Health and Hospice Care is provided by local professionals serving local people. The team consists of skilled nurses, home health aides, rehabilitation therapists (physical, occupational, and speech), social workers, and more.
HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE TEAM MEMBERS
Dr. Shahid Waheed, Medical Director
Kay Dubbert RN, Director of Nursing
Arlinda Wilson RN, Home Care Coordinator / Case Manager
Dianna Miller RN, Case Manager
Carrie Torreyson RN, Case Manager
Janna Blackburn RN, Case Manager
Connie Johnson LPN
Brandi Crow LPN
Susan Deener LPN
Mike Tedrow LPN
Sue Waechter RN prn
Andrea Willer RN prn
LeeAnn Paladin RN prn
Debbie Hays LPN - Intake
Ellalou Dunn, Clerk
Dorothy Snell, Clerk
Tamilee Moran, Billing Manager
Bev Borgeson MSW
Calvin Canine PT
Jennifer Buswell PT
Juli Hampton PT
Don Borgeson OT
Brenda Foree PTA
Ryan Pezley PTA
Jim Schlemmer PTA
Janice Brockus ST
Sara Robertson ST
The Staff of Audrain Home Health and Hospice takes pride in providing the highest quality of care to our community members. We invite you to see for yourself how well patients improve with our care. Please visit online www.medicare.gov/HHCompare. On this website you can compare our agency outcomes with those of other agencies in the area. The following table is a summary of out patients' outcomes for the period ending December 3, 2007 as reported by Medicare. You will notice that ACCHU's patients improved at a higher percentage rate than Home Health providers in Missouri and the nation. We feel confident you will agree that Audrain Home Health and Hospice is the right choice for you and your loved ones.
| AUDRAIN CITY - COUNTY HEALTH UNIT | |||||||||
| 605 EAST PROMENADE PO
BOX 957 MEXICO, MO 65265 (573) 581-6060 |
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| Type
of Ownership: Government - Combination GOVT & Voluntary Agency's Initial Date of Medicare Certification: 10/14/1968 |
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| Medicare-covered Services: | |||||||||
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| Quality Measures | Percentage for AUDRAIN CITY - COUNTY HEALTH UNIT |
State Average | National Average | ||||||
| HIGHER PERCENTAGES ARE BETTER | |||||||||
| Percentage of patients who get better at walking or moving around | 48% | 46% | 43% | ||||||
| Percentage of patients who get better at getting in and out of bed | 67% | 57% | 54% | ||||||
| Percentage of patients who have less pain when moving around | 63% | 64% | 64% | ||||||
| Percentage of patients whose bladder control improves | 61% | 52% | 50% | ||||||
| Percentage of patients who get better at bathing | 70% | 65% | 65% | ||||||
| Percentage of patients who get better at taking their medicines correctly (by mouth) | 54% | 43% | 43% | ||||||
| Percentage of patients who are short of breath less often | 66% | 63% | 61% | ||||||
| Percentage of patients who stay at home after an episode of home health care ends | 82% | 73% | 68% | ||||||
| NEW! Percentage of patients whose wounds improved or healed after an operation | 83% | 82% | 79% | ||||||
| LOWER PERCENTAGES ARE BETTER | |||||||||
| Percentage of patients who had to be admitted to the hospital | 14% | 23% | 28% | ||||||
| Percentage of patients who need urgent, unplanned medical care | 13% | 19% | 21% | ||||||
| NEW! percentage of patients who need unplanned medical care related to a wound that is new, is worse, or has become infected. | 2% | 1% | 1% | ||||||
If you would like to know more about Medicare services, please visit online www.medicare.gov.
The patient referral can be made by:
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Physician |
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Nurse |
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Social Worker |
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Clergy |
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Family member |
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A person in need of home health or hospice services |
Home Health Services
Home Health is designed to provide short-term in-home health care to persons with:
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a newly diagnosed disease or disability |
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a sudden change in a chronic illness or disability |
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a recent discharge from an acute hospital or a nursing care facility |
Who is Eligible?
Home Health is available to patients if:
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The patient is eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or has coverage under private insurance |
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The patient’s physician approves admission to home health and the plan of treatment |
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The patient lives in the service area |
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The patient is essentially confined to their home or place of residence |
Hospice Services
A person who chooses hospice care receives non-curative medical and support services for his or her terminal illness. Care is provided in the home or place of residence.
Hospice focuses on pain and symptom management and emphasis is on palliative rather than curative measures. Hospice assists the person to make the most of each day of remaining life by providing comfort and relief of pain.
Who is Eligible?
Hospice is available to patients if:
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The patient is eligible for Medicare part A, Medicaid, or has coverage under private insurance |
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The patient’s doctor and the hospice medical director certify the patient is terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less |
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The patient lives in the service area |
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The patient is seeking palliative rather than curative care |
Hospice Benefits:
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Nursing care |
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Medical equipment and supplies related to the terminal illness. |
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Medications for symptom management and pain relief related to the terminal illness |
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Medical social services and counseling. |
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Spiritual care. |
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Trained volunteers. |
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Dietary counseling. |
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Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy if indicated. |
How is Care Provided?
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While family members or other caregivers attend to the patient on a daily basis, members of the team make regular visits. In addition, the nurse is on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week to provide assistance whenever needed. |
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Bereavement follow-up for the family or significant others is provided for up to one year after the patient’s death |
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A patient has the right to cancel or change hospice programs at any time. |
HOSPICE MEMORIAL
The Audrain City-County Health Unit (ACCHU) Hospice Memorial Service is held annually. This years' memorial was held on Sunday, May 4, 2008. The service was held in memory of ACCHU hospice patients who passed away from April, 2007 through March 2008. The ceremony was held in Audrain Medical Center's third floor Stribling conference room in Mexico. There were 33 hospice patients memorialized for the time period. Loved ones representing nine hospice patients were able to attend the ceremony. As each hospice patient's name was read their family representative was presented a candle and poem. Family members and staff shared their memories and reflections of loved ones. Reverend Jerry Ostrom shared a meaningful message with those present. As each family left the service, they were presented a helium filled balloon with a message attached if desired. There balloons were released into the air following a brief moment of silence and reflection.
HOSPICE DEFINED
Audrain City-County Health Unit’s Home Health and Hospice Professional Advisory Committee members recently determined that the community may have questions relating to certain hospice benefits. This article will help define hospice services and answer any questions that may exist.
Hospice is a philosophy of care that is intended to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the terminally ill patient and their family and loved ones. To be eligible for hospice care a patient must have a life expectancy of six months or less, assuming a disease follows its normal course. Most people think that the terminal diagnosis must be cancer, however, hospice agencies can see patients with other diagnoses as long as the physician can supply documentation that relates to the terminal illness. This six-month prognosis need not be seen as a sign of giving up. It is simply shifting the focus and resources from trying to cure a disease to improving a patient’s quality of life, even through the final days. The goal of hospice is to keep the patient as pain-free and comfortable as possible.
Hospice care is available for patients who are eligible for Medicare part A, Medicaid, or have coverage through private insurance. Hospice services include nursing care, physician’s services, home aides, medical social services and counseling, bereavement support, spiritual counseling, volunteer services, and physical, occupational, and speech therapy when indicated. Covered expenses include some prescription drugs as well as medications for pain relief and symptom management, medical supplies and appliances, 24-hour-a-day access to health care professionals, and short-term inpatient care and/or respite care.
Hospice care is provided in the patient’s place of residence, whether it be their own home, a family member’s home, or a long-term care facility. When a hospice patient resides in a nursing home they receive their daily care from the facility staff, but receive the added benefit of extra care provided by the hospice agency. Hospice staff have specialized training on end-of-life care and can be a valuable support to the staff as well as the patient and their loved ones. The majority of hospices provide care in the patient's residence, however, in mid-Missouri there is one residential hospice which is in Jefferson City.
As well as nursing home care, hospice patients can receive care in hospital settings. Hospital care can be hospice-approved for certain needs such as five days of respite care to relieve the caregiver, and acute care for pain and/or symptom control related to the terminal diagnosis. It is also important to know that hospice patients can receive medical treatment in the hospital for a non-terminal diagnosis while still receiving hospice benefits. For instance, if a hospice patient with lung cancer as their terminal diagnosis falls at home and suffers a fractured hip, they can be treated for that injury without having to give up their hospice care.
In summary, the focus of hospice care is to assist patients with the process of dying as pain-free and comfortable as possible, and to ensure the best quality of life during their terminal phase. Hospice staff also assist families with patient care, and offer support to family members through the initial grieving stage of up to one year after the death of their loved one.
Hospice can be a great asset to families who have a loved one with a terminal illness. If you or someone you know could benefit from hospice services, or if you have any further questions, please call Audrain City-County Health Unit Hospice.
Audrain City-County Health Unit Home Health & Hospice is Medicare/Medicaid certified and licensed by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, and is a preferred provider for some insurance companies, including Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Mercy Health Plans.
Audrain Health Unit Home Health & Hospice does not discriminate against race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual preference, handicap or age.
For more information call
573-581-6060 or 1-866-581-5200 toll free