|
"Different Ways of Grieving, Different Ways of Healing"
Tuesday, April 27
Featuring national speaker Doug C. Smith
Information and Registration
Bridge Home Health and Hospice is please to present the following three testimonials currently airing on Toledo and area TV. The message is being delivered by Bridge patient families.
Darlene
Dawn
Andy (Dr, Andy Ritz)
The medical professionals at Bridge Home Health & Hospice bring a wide range of healthcare services into the home. A service of the Blanchard Valley Health System, Bridge has provided homecare since 1982. Our service allows patients to heal in the comfort of home, enables independence and is more cost-effective than continued hospitalization or a long-term care facility. Accredited by the Joint Commission the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), Bridge accepts Medicare, Medicaid, commercial insurance, or private payment. We are able to provide service to eight counties in northwest Ohio - Hancock, Wood, Henry, Putnam, Allen, Hardin, Wyandot and Seneca Counties.
Medicare Admission Criteria:
1. The patient is required to have homebound status (i.e., absences from the home are infrequent and short in duration, including medical appointments, hair appointments, attending religious services, adult daycare, etc.)
(Homebound status is NOT necessary for Medicaid patients and most private insurances.)
2. The patient must have a SKILLED need for intermittent skilled nursing, physical, occupational, or speech therapy.
3. Physician Order
Skilled Nursing - includes (but is not limited to) the following:
- Infusion Therapy/PICC
- Psychiatric Nursing
- Wound Care
- Assessment/Management of Disease
- Processes
- Medication Teaching
- Pediatric Care (home phototherapy)
- Catheter Care
- Ostomy Care
- Ventilator Care
- Orthopedic Care
- Hyperalimentation
- Cardiac Care
- Teaching/Patient-Caregiver Education
- Post-Surgery Care
Physical Therapy - Rehabilitation following stroke, heart attack, joint replacement surgery, or problems related to joint pain, muscle pain or general debility after a prolonged hospital stay.
Occupational Therapy - Therapeutic exercises or home exercise programs focusing on the need to improve patient's ability to function independently or semi-independently in regard to activities of daily living.
Speech Therapy - Exercises to assist with speech, voice communication and difficulty swallowing.
Medical Social Services - Family support, help with financial concerns and referrals to community resources.
Certified Nurse's Aide - Assist with personal care. This service is available if used in conjunction with skilled healthcare.
In most cases, home health care is covered by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance when the care is ordered by your physician. Your doctor will use certain criteria to determine if home healthcare is appropriate.
Remember - if you feel that you or a family member could benefit from home health care, ask your physician.
Home care could be beneficial for the following conditions:
- Dressing changes for wounds or incisions
- Pain control and symptom management difficulties
- Urinary catheters
- Heart and/or breathing problems
- Diabetic teaching and/or assisting with insulin
- Recent diagnosis of a chronic illness
- Difficulty with ambulation
- Colostomies and ileostomies
- Difficulty with leaving the home for medical needs
- Due to illness, patient cannot perform self care, like bathing, eating, etc.
- Post surgery care
- Post cardiac care
- Post stroke rehabilitation
- Recent diagnosis of a terminal illness
In January 1996, two subsidiaries of the Blanchard Valley Health System merged to become Bridge Home Health & Hospice. As our name illustrates, Bridge provides both home and hospice care. Prior to 1996, Blanchard Valley Health Services operated the home health program, and hospice services were provided by the Bridge Hospice Care Center.
Both agencies were created to fill growing health care needs in our community, and both expanded during an era of significant change in our nation's health care system.
Seeing an increasing need for health care delivered in the home, Hancock County developed a county-operated home health program in 1967. In 1981, Bill Ruse, then president of Blanchard Valley Hospital, shared his vision of a hospital-based home health program with Findlay's Board of Health. Ultimately, Hancock County Home Health dissolved and five of its employees joined the Blanchard Valley Health System to begin Blanchard Valley Health Services in 1982. During its first year, the organization made 7,078 visits with seven staff members and three temporary nurses. By 1995, Blanchard Valley Health Services had made 21,216 visits and was caring for 150 patients per month.
Since its beginning in the early 1980's, Blanchard Valley Health Services developed many specialized programs and services including IV therapies, a mother/baby home visit program and home phototherapy for jaundiced babies.
In 1981, interested area residents came together to discuss the idea of a hospice program in Hancock County. Hospice provides medical, emotional, and spiritual support for terminally ill patients and their families. A steering committee assessed community support, and in 1983, the non-profit corporation Hospice of Hancock County was formed. With a loan of $100,000 from the Blanchard Valley Health System in 1984, the service became a reality, opened an office on South Main Street in Findlay and began serving residents of Hancock and surrounding counties.
When the hospice program in Wood County was discontinued, residents and physicians from the area approached Hospice of Hancock County in 1989 about providing services in that area. After recruiting volunteers and training staff, Hospice of Hancock County expanded to include Wood County in 1990. As a result of this expansion, the name Hospice of Hancock County was changed to The Bridge Hospice Care Center in 1992.
Now combined as Bridge Home Health & Hospice, our merger has made it easier for patients to move from one service to another and, in many cases, retain the same caregivers. Our main office is located at 15100 Birchaven Lane in Findlay, with satellite offices at 1037 Conneaut Aveune in Bowling Green and 182 St. Francis Avenue in Tiffin.
| 
