Superior Home Health and Hospice, rooted in our communities
By Barbara Auten, R.N., B.S.N., C.H.P.N.
HANCOCK – Western U.P. communities are increasingly populated by older adults, many of whom will seek locally owned and operated professional home health and hospice services at some time in the future.
As we recognize November as National Home Health and Hospice Month, many local families have come to value the dedicated home health providers rooted in their communities, including Superior Home Health and Hospice, a division of Western U.P. District Health Department.
Superior Home Health and Hospice is the oldest and most experienced home health agency in the region, in operation since 1936. The agency became the first Medicare-certified agency way back in 1966, at the inception of the federal health insurance program for older Americans.
While there are several fine home health services located in our region, many people don’t realize that Superior Home Health, as a unit of local government, belongs to the citizens of the Western U.P. and is there to serve their needs, with offices in Hancock, L’Anse, Ontonagon and Bessemer.
As the largest home health agency in the area, Superior Home Health enables the health department to maintain high quality services in its five constituent counties – Houghton, Keweenaw, Baraga, Ontonagon and Gogebic counties. In large part due to the success of Superior Home Health, our health department receives a much smaller share of county appropriations than do most local health departments in Michigan.
In other words, Superior Home Health and Hospice, as part of a public health agency, benefits our area and its citizens in two ways important – by providing the highest quality home health services, and by bolstering the capacity of the health department to provide much needed public health services, including immunization, maternal-child health programs, cancer prevention programs, senior health screening, emergency preparedness and the full complement of environmental health services, in all five counties.
So now you know we’re part of your county’s public services, staffed by local professionals who serve their friends and neighbors. But what exactly does Superior Home Health and Hospice have to offer to patients and families?
Of course, we provide skilled nursing care, whenever you need it, in the convenience of your own home, and as a non-profit organization, we serve all eligible patients regardless of ability to pay. We accept a wide variety of payment sources, including Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, Veterans Administration insurance and workers compensation.
Superior Home Health also has a large team of professional physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech and language pathologists who serve home clients and patients in extended care facilities.
Many of our nurses and therapists have expertise in the specialized skill of wound care. We also provide infusion therapies in the home, which involves administering medications through an intravenous line, something not all home health agencies are trained and equipped to do.
In addition to providing skilled nursing and professional therapies, your locally operated home care agency also added hospice services in 2003 to meet the growing demand for compassionate care at the last stage of life. Superior Home Health and Hospice has a caring and dedicated staff of nurses and aides who are nationally certified in hospice and palliative care, and our medical director has developed expertise in hospice as well. Our hospice team helps patients and families find comfort and meaning in the final days.
As Veterans Day approaches, we want to take this opportunity to support the Hospice Veterans Partnership, an initiative to inform those who served our country about end-of-life services available to them. Veterans can find information on hospice on-line at Michigan Hospice and Palliative Care, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, or by calling the hospice agency of their choice.
For more information on Superior Home Health and Hospice, please visit them on the health department Web site or call the health department office in your community.
As a division of the health department, Superior Home Health and Hospice truly is rooted in your community.
Barbara Auten is the Director of Superior Home Health and Hospice, and also directs local public health and education programs for the health department.