With a $126,000 grant from the State of Wyoming Department of Health Aging Division, Home Health Services at West Park Hospital (WPH), Cody, WY, is now able to provide a complete continuity of home care, from homemaking to hospice.

The Home Health Department and Spirit Mountain Hospice, Cody, WY, moved from their previous location in the basement of the hospital to the Balison building on Eighth Street, behind the cancer center. The staff welcomes clients or visitors to stop by during normal business hours to see the new location.

"This grant provides seniors 60 and older at risk for nursing home or institutional placement [with] in-home services such as homemaking, personal care and personal emergency response systems," said Linda Harbron, RN, director of WPH's Home Health Services and Spirit Mountain Hospice. "It has saved the Medicaid program in Wyoming literally millions of dollars by keeping people out of nursing homes and out of the hospital."

In addition to seniors 60 and older, the grant also covers people ages 18 to 59 with physical, emotional or cognitive disabilities.

The grant provides for three in-home services:

•              certified nursing aides to assist with bathing or other personal-care needs;

•              homemakers/housekeepers to assist with light housework such as dusting, laundry, shopping and cleaning bathrooms; and

•              a personal emergency-response system for those at risk of falling.

West Park Hospital Home Health took over the program - which had been administered by another agency for the past 5 years - on June 29. The program serves 50 people with a range of needs, from a single service to all three offerings.

In addition, a case manager and access coordinator work to provide personalized service and care plans and supervision and scheduling of staff.

The need for the program is evident by the waiting list for services, which was eight people long in July.

"The governor was very adamant that this program not be cut," Harbron said. "What we need to do now is advocate for these programs in the coming years." The waiting list and the cost savings are tangible proof of the importance of in-home care, she said.

Clients do pay for services, but the fee is based on a sliding scale, and no one is turned away for financial reasons. The average cost for clients is three dollars per hour.

For more information about community-based in-home services, contact West Park Hospital's Home Health Department at 307-578-2413.