Home Care in Bethlehem, PA

Why Bethlehem families call us

Bethlehem families call us for the same reasons families everywhere do, a fall, a hospital stay, memory changes, an exhausted spouse, but the city's layout shapes the details. A parent in a South Side row home below Lehigh University faces different stairs than a parent in a North Side single on a quiet street off Linden Street or a West Side twin near Mount Airy. Some adult children here commute to New Jersey or New York, which makes weekday coverage the hardest part to arrange. Others grew up in a Bethlehem Steel family and are now caring for a parent who worked at the plant or married someone who did.

Bethlehem also has a large Spanish-speaking community. When we match a caregiver we consider needs, personality, schedule, location and language, so tell us what language your parent is most comfortable in and we will be honest about what we can arrange.

Neighborhoods and housing

Center City holds the historic Moravian district along Main Street and Church Street, with stone buildings dating to the 1700s and older homes with steep, narrow stairs. The South Side, across the Lehigh River, climbs from SteelStacks and the old steel grounds up toward Lehigh University on South Mountain; its blocks of brick row homes were built close together on steep streets, with second-floor bathrooms and basement laundry. The North Side and East Side, including Pembroke Village, have more twins and single homes, and the West Side, in Lehigh County, mixes older twins with mid-century homes around Mount Airy. Fountain Hill, Hellertown and Freemansburg have their own older borough housing, and Bethlehem and Hanover townships are mostly suburban singles, townhouses and apartments.

The consultation starts with the house. In a South Side row home the plan often centers on bathing help, the stairs and getting groceries home. In a township ranch it might be companionship, meals and rides to appointments. For a parent with memory loss, it is supervision and routine; see dementia care at home.

Bethlehem's hospitals and coming home

St. Luke's University Hospital–Bethlehem, the network's main campus, sits on Ostrum Street in Fountain Hill, just west of the South Side. Lehigh Valley Hospital–Muhlenberg is on Schoenersville Road, north of the city, and St. Luke's Anderson Campus is in Bethlehem Township off Route 33. Many West Side families also use Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest in Allentown.

Whichever campus your parent leaves, call us with the discharge date and the address. A caregiver can meet them at home, help them settle, prepare a meal, set up reminders per the discharge instructions and stay overnight if needed. Skilled nursing and therapy come from the home health agency the hospital arranges; we are non-medical and work alongside them. See coming home from St. Luke's Bethlehem and coming home from Lehigh Valley Hospital.

How care starts in Bethlehem

1. Call (717) 695-2704 or request a consultation online. Tell us the address, what a normal day looks like now and what changed recently.
2. In-home consultation. A care coordinator visits the home in Bethlehem or the nearby boroughs and townships, meets your parent and walks the house with you. Northampton and Lehigh counties are farther from our Harrisburg office than our core counties, so the visit can take a little longer to schedule than the one to two business days typical around Harrisburg.
3. Written care plan listing each task, the schedule, and your parent's preferences and routines.
4. Caregiver match on care needs, personality, language, schedule and location, with an introduction before the first shift when schedules allow.
5. Ongoing check-ins from our office, and on-call support for active clients outside office hours.

An honest word about scheduling

Bethlehem is easier to staff than rural counties, but schedules still depend on caregiver availability. Longer visits and recurring shifts are easier to keep consistent than one-hour visits, and very early starts or a narrow language match take more planning. We will tell you plainly at the consultation what we can cover.

Paying for care in Bethlehem

Because the city spans two counties, the right Area Agency on Aging depends on where your parent lives.

• Northampton County Area Agency on Aging, (610) 829-4540, for the North Side, South Side, East Side and Center City, plus Hellertown, Freemansburg and Bethlehem Township. It handles OPTIONS for residents 60 and older, PA MEDI insurance counseling and the long-term care ombudsman.
• Lehigh County Aging & Adult Services, (610) 782-3200, for the West Side, Fountain Hill and the Lehigh County side of Hanover Township.
• We accept OPTIONS through either county AAA. See how the OPTIONS program works.
• Long-term care insurance. We provide the care plan, daily notes and itemized invoices most carriers ask for. See how long-term care insurance claims work.
• VA benefits. Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits can help eligible veterans and surviving spouses pay for care at home. See VA benefits for home care in Pennsylvania.
• Medicaid waiver programs. Community HealthChoices (UPMC Community HealthChoices, PA Health & Wellness, AmeriHealth Caritas), the OBRA waiver and Act 150. We are an enrolled provider, and your parent can choose any willing and qualified provider. See home care through Medicaid waiver programs.
• Medicare does not pay for ongoing non-medical home care. It covers intermittent skilled home health visits when a doctor orders them, which is a different service from ours.

Read how to pay for home care in Pennsylvania for more.

Neighborhoods and nearby towns we cover

• Center City
• North Side
• South Side
• East Side
• West Side
• Mount Airy
• Pembroke Village
• Fountain Hill
• Hellertown
• Freemansburg
• Bethlehem Township
• Hanover Township
• Lower Saucon Township
• Allentown