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Thursday, September 30 2010 By Liz Wod Dr. Dean Bartholomew said that the Platte Valley Medical Clinic is currently working to get a home health care license to fill the needs of Platte Valley residents who relied on the home health care services offered by Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC). Hospice care is also a need in the Valley so that patients can receive care at home and not have the expense of unnecessary hospital bills. As providers at the clinic, Bartholomew can provide home health care without a license. For nurses, it’s a different story - they are required to have a license. Due to the shortage of home health care in Carbon County, there are regulations that should allow the clinic to provide home health care using nurses. “The benefit then would be providers can go out and provide care, but we would be able to send nurses out on a regular basis, too,” said Bartholomew. There are some things that are hard on patients without home care health, like live I.V. therapies, added Bartholomew. “Other therapies that are burdensome, especially for homebound patients, are wound care with frequent dressing changes or other types of repetitive care such as with gastric tubes and peripheral I.V. lines,” Bartholomew said. When MHCC was providing the care, there were three to five patients per week in the southern part of the county, but the number does vary, said Bartholomew. Tonya (Bartholomew’s wife) added, if someone has a procedure done in Laramie or Ft. Collins and there is not a home health services available to provide the needed care, they cannot come home. Without home health care, she said, it can be a financial burden on families, as the patient would have to rent hotel rooms to stay close to the hospital. With home health care, the patient can come home and get the care they need, Tonya said. Insurance companies and Medicare are cracking down on the length of stay in the hospital, so when a patient is discharged, but still needs care, the question arises “Where do I go?” Tonya continued. “This (home health care) will be a huge benefit, because they (patients) will be able to get the services they need and the appropriate amount of time in the hospital,” Tonya said. Bartholomew said once the home health care license is approved, the clinic will hire a part-time nurse. The hours will be sporadic depending on the need, with some weeks having two or less hours. Bartholomew said there has been interest expressed in the position.

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