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"Our agency has grown considerably through the years," said Susan Zator, R.N., director, UK HomeCare. "We’ve seen home visits leap from 300 to 1,000 per month in the past 18 months."

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"Our agency has grown considerably through the years," said Susan Zator, R.N., director, UK HomeCare. "We’ve seen home visits leap from 300 to 1,000 per month in the past 18 months." The department’s primary client base comes from the UK Hospital and UK clinics. "We’re not a typical home health agency because we serve a wide variety of patients, not just the elderly." Clientele include premature babies, postoperative patients, patients who require IV therapies, women with potentially complicated pregnancies, and patients in need of specialized monitoring for medical problems like diabetes and congestive heart failure.

To accommodate the varied ages and medical conditions of its patients, the agency provides registered nurses and home health aides in addition to physical, speech and occupational therapists. The agency offer special programs in pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics, and social services. A lactation consultant provides services to breastfeeding mothers.

Education is a strong component of patient rehabilitation, Zator said. "We teach patients’ caregivers how to give injections, to manage diets, and do wound care -- all those things that will help the patient deal with their situation and perhaps eliminate some hospital visits."

Individualized care is an important facet of home health care, said Kim Emmett, M.D., assistant professor, UK College of Medicine. "Doctors don’t make house calls anymore, and knowing the patient’s environment is important to me. They may not be living in ideal or safe conditions. Home health visits can prevent dangerous events or a trip to the emergency department."

Case in point: On one visit, a home health staff member observed an elderly patient had placed pills in a candy dish on a coffee table. The staffer immediately remedied the problem.

The range of care that the agency provides was recently demonstrated in the case of impending quadruple births. UK HomeCare Garrad County branch nurse, Helen Guinn, R.N., and Mary Jo McClure, M.S.N., UK HomeCare obstetrics specialist, monitored the condition of mother and babies, prepared the community for premature delivery by coordinating local services, lined up helicopter sites and taught the local hospital staff the requirements for managing a potential early delivery before the mother’s transport to UK Hospital.

The service often provides care to premature babies with ongoing health problems. "They monitor the baby’s medicines, oxygen, and weight gain after delivery and examine the infant for possible jaundice. I’m pleased with UK HomeCare -- they’re efficient and get things done in a timely manner," said Linda Lear, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, UK College of Medicine.

Each UK HomeCare staff member makes five to six calls each day. After seven years with the service, Midge Cull, R.N., UK HomeCare, knows every street in Lexington and the surrounding area. She enjoys the relaxed atmosphere when she’s on the road.

"I get to see patients in their own environment where they have more control of their own care. They’re more receptive to education and information when they’re at home," she said.

Recently, Cull visited the home of Ken and Mildred Sever. A downstairs room was converted to a cozy living space where Mildred Sever lay bedridden with multiple sclerosis. An oxygen concentrator beat a steady rhythm, while soap operas played on a portable television. Ken Sever has spent nearly every night of the past 10 years on a small bed next to his wife, who has become increasingly non-responsive due to the debilitating disease.

Cull monitored vital signs, drew blood for diagnostics, and checked the gastrostomy tube through which Sever is fed. After making an overall medical evaluation for swelling, skin breakdown and related conditions, she consulted about medical and dietary issues with both Ken Sever and Carol Reynolds, the patient’s full-time caretaker.

Reynolds worked with other home health agencies in the past, and said UK HomeCare is superior. "If I call in the morning, they’re always organized, messages get through and help gets to you. I appreciate that -- plus they resolve problems quickly. Other agencies have taken days."

Ken Sever seconded her opinion. "I’m very satisfied with the service. We’ve been with them for close to 10 years."

Zator said that highly personalized, individual service sets UK HomeCare apart from other agencies. "We’re charged with individual care -- people aren’t made by a cookie cutter, and we treat them accordingly. We’re the Medical Center out in the home, and we don’t forget that."

By Kim Cumbie