Home Care in Huntingdon, PA

Why Huntingdon families call us

Huntingdon County is large and rural, and the borough is where its services concentrate: the courthouse, the hospital, the doctors' offices and the pharmacies. Families call us when a parent who lives in town, or out in Smithfield or Walker Township, needs regular help but the nearest grown child is in State College, Altoona, Harrisburg or farther. Others call because Mom or Dad retired to a house near Raystown Lake years ago, and the place that was perfect at 65 is harder at 85.

Many of the situations are the ones you would expect: a fall at home, a hospital stay at Penn Highlands Huntingdon, a parent with memory changes who should not be driving into town alone anymore. What Huntingdon families need from us is a clear plan and honest talk about what we can staff out here.

Homes and settings around Huntingdon

The borough sits on the northeast bank of the Juniata River, with Smithfield Township across the water to the south and west and Oneida and Henderson townships to the north and east. In town, the historic district's brick and frame homes are two and three stories, close together, with steep porch steps and bathrooms upstairs. Outside town, McConnellstown and the roads along PA 26 toward Raystown Lake are a mix of ranch homes, older farmhouses and lake houses on gravel lanes. Alexandria, Petersburg and Mill Creek are each a short drive from town but far enough that a parent who stops driving loses easy access to groceries and appointments.

That last point is where a caregiver often helps most. Along with personal care and meals, our caregivers can accompany your parent to appointments in the borough, to the pharmacy and to the grocery store, and handle the laundry and light housekeeping that slips first.

Penn Highlands Huntingdon and coming home

Penn Highlands Huntingdon, the former J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital, is on Warm Springs Avenue in the borough and is the county's hospital. People who need specialized care are sometimes treated in Altoona, State College or Hershey and then come home to Huntingdon County to recover, which means a long ride home and a tired parent at the end of it.

Call us with the discharge date and the address. A caregiver can meet your parent at home, help them settle in, make a meal, keep medication reminders on schedule per the discharge instructions and stay overnight for the first nights if needed. Nursing or therapy visits come from the home health agency the hospital arranges; we are non-medical and work alongside that team. See coming home from Penn Highlands Huntingdon.

How care starts in Huntingdon

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 Huntingdon or the surrounding townships, meets your parent and walks the house with you. Huntingdon County is one of our farthest counties from Harrisburg, so the visit takes longer to schedule than the one to two business days typical closer to our office.
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 in Huntingdon County

We will be direct: Huntingdon County is rural, and caregiver availability is the limit on what we can staff. Longer visits and recurring shifts, such as four or more hours on set weekdays, regular overnights or 24-hour arrangements, are much easier to cover than a one-hour daily check-in. Addresses in or near the borough are easier than homes at the far end of a lake road. We will tell you during the consultation what we can staff reliably, and if a schedule is not workable we will say so rather than promise it.

Paying for care in Huntingdon County

• Huntingdon-Bedford-Fulton Area Agency on Aging, which keeps an office in Huntingdon and serves all three counties, (814) 623-8148. The AAA handles the OPTIONS program for residents 60 and older, personal care assistance, home support and protective services. We accept OPTIONS through the 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

• Smithfield Township
• Oneida Township
• Henderson Township
• Walker Township
• McConnellstown
• Alexandria
• Petersburg
• Mill Creek
• Mapleton
• Marklesburg
• Hesston
• Mount Union