Home Care in Mifflintown and Mifflin, PA

Why Mifflintown and Mifflin families call us

Juniata County has no hospital, and most of its residents live in small boroughs, villages and farmhouses rather than in town. When a parent in Mifflintown, Mifflin or out in Fermanagh Township starts needing help, the family is usually weighing a few hard facts at once: the hospital is in Lewistown, the specialists are in Lewistown, State College or Harrisburg, and the closest grown child may live an hour or more away. Families call us for a parent who has had a fall, who is coming home after a hospital stay, or whose memory is changing and who should not be alone all day.

We also hear from spouses carrying the whole load. In a county where neighbors and church families still help each other a great deal, the request is often modest: someone to cover bathing and breakfast a few mornings a week, or a few hours of respite so a wife can get to her own appointments.

Homes and settings in Mifflintown, Mifflin and the townships

Mifflintown was laid out in 1791 and named for Governor Thomas Mifflin. Its center is the courthouse and the older homes and storefronts along PA 35, the town's main street, and Bridge Street. These are two- and three-story houses close to the sidewalk, with steep stairs and bathrooms upstairs. Across the Juniata, Mifflin borough, where the old Pennsylvania Railroad main line still runs as Norfolk Southern, has a similar mix of older homes. The four-lane US 22/322 bypass east of town carries the traffic now, so both boroughs stay quiet.

Beyond the boroughs, Juniata County is farmland and forested ridges, and it is home to many Amish and Mennonite families. Homes in Fermanagh, Milford, Walker and Delaware townships, and around Port Royal, Thompsontown, Richfield and McAlisterville, tend to be farmhouses and single homes on long lanes. For a parent who has stopped driving, the distance to the pharmacy and grocery store becomes the problem, and a caregiver who can handle errands and housekeeping, meals and Medication Reminders fills that gap.

Geisinger Lewistown Hospital and coming home

For most Mifflintown families the nearest hospital is Geisinger Lewistown Hospital on Highland Avenue in Lewistown, up US 22/322 in Mifflin County. Some people are transferred to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville or to hospitals in Harrisburg or State College for specialized care and then make the longer trip home.

Call us with the discharge date and the address. A caregiver can meet your parent at home, help them settle, prepare something to eat, set up reminders that follow the discharge instructions and stay overnight for the first nights if needed. Nursing and therapy come from the home health agency the hospital arranges; we are non-medical and work alongside them. See coming home from Geisinger Lewistown Hospital.

How care starts in Mifflintown

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 Mifflintown, Mifflin or the surrounding townships, meets your parent and walks the house with you. Juniata County is one of our outer counties, so the visit takes 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 in Juniata County

Juniata County is rural, and what we can staff depends on caregiver availability in the area. Homes in or near Mifflintown and Mifflin, along PA 35 and the US 22/322 corridor, are easier to cover than farms at the end of a long township road. Longer visits and recurring shifts, such as four hours on set weekday mornings or regular overnights, are far easier to staff consistently than one-hour visits. We will tell you plainly during the consultation what we can cover well.

Paying for care in Juniata County

• Mifflin-Juniata Area Agency on Aging, which serves both counties from Lewistown, (800) 348-2277. The AAA handles the OPTIONS program for residents 60 and older, care management, home support, the Call-A-Ride program 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 the full picture.

Neighborhoods and nearby towns we cover

• Mifflin
• Fermanagh Township
• Milford Township
• Walker Township
• Delaware Township
• Port Royal
• Thompsontown
• Mexico
• Richfield
• McAlisterville
• East Waterford
• Cocolamus