Katie Norris, registered nurse, Clearfield Hospital Home Health, left, takes Thelma Semen’s blood pressure. Clearfield Hospital Home Health is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month. The agency has three offices and 85 employees who care for patients in Clearfield County as well as surrounding counties.
A home care service that started in 1969 with three nurses and a secretary has grown into a multi-office agency with 85 employees.
Clearfield Hospital Home Health will celebrate its 40th anniversary this month by hosting a community open house in the First Floor Conference Room of Clearfield Hospital on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. Refreshments, door prizes and giveaways will be part of the event.
The main focus, however, will be celebrating home health’s history and future.
“We are proud to have provided quality home health care for 40 years. We started small, but it didn’t take long for us to flourish. I’m sure the reason for our success is our reputation for providing excellent care,” stated Karen Warfield, RN, home care director.
The hospital’s home health service was the brainchild of then Chief Executive Officer Harold VonGunden and the hospital’s board of directors. They felt the service was needed because patients weren’t staying in the hospital as long as they used to and required continued nursing care after they went home.
The hospital turned to two instructors from the hospital’s School of Nursing, Margaret Gates and Betty Quinn, to set up a home health service. Both had nursing degrees. Mrs. Gates also had a minor in home health and had worked for a period of time in home care in Washington, D.C.
Mrs. Gates said they traveled to other home agencies to learn how they operated. After establishing how the service would be operated, Gates and Quinn settled into their first office, a sun porch in the Lee Wing of the hospital, which Gates said was jokingly referred to as the “office without walls.”
Joining them was secretary Nancy Stewart and nurse Irene Wisor. The three nurses visited patients across the region, traveling as far as Mahaffey, Coalport, Rockton and Philipsburg.
“The patients had a great respect for the nurses who went into their homes to take care of them, and I think the same is true today. You get a different kind of care in your own home. Perhaps that’s because you’re more comfortable. I’m not surprised about how successful (Clearfield) home health has become. They give good care and have good nurses,” Gates said.
Today, Clearfield Hospital Home Health has three offices in Clearfield, Houtzdale and Mahaffey, which cover Clearfield and Centre counties and parts of Indiana, Jefferson, and Cambria counties. The staff is made up of experienced registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, secretaries and home health aides. They made more than 39,000 home care visits last year.
Services provided are nursing; physical, occupational and speech therapies; aide and social worker services; specialized wound care; IV therapy; palliative care and hospice care. In addition, the agency provides these specialty services: Healthy Beginnings Plus visits to new moms and babies; lymphedema therapy; Vital Stim therapy for swallowing disorders; and dementia education for caregivers.
The agency was one of the first in Pennsylvania to offer remote telehealth monitoring for patients at risk for readmission to the hospital. A remote patient monitor, which is placed in the patient’s home and is linked to the main home health office, keeps track of the patient’s vital signs between visits. This information is reviewed daily by a nurse who contacts the patient and his or her doctor if readings are not normal.
“One of our outcomes that is reported to Medicare is our acute care hospitalization rate. Avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations improves the quality of life for our patients. By utilizing evidence-based best practices, our agency now ranks in the top 20 percent nationally for preventing hospitalizations. I invite anyone interested in learning more about our outcome measures to log on to www.medicare.gov,” Warfield said.
She added, “Our agency believes that providing care in the home setting is cost effective and efficient, as well as being a valuable service to the community. Our nurses have a lasting impact on the patients they serve. We encourage everyone to attend our open house and learn more about us. It would be especially nice to see former patients and employees attend.”
While celebrating the past, the staff of Clearfield Hospital Home Health is focusing on its future mission to utilize many of the latest technologies while providing patients with traditional home care with comfort and compassion.
For more information, please contact Warfield at 768-2026.
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