Coming home from Lehigh Valley Hospital–Schuylkill

Before discharge: three hospitals, the same questions

Whichever Schuylkill County hospital your parent is leaving, ask the case manager what the first two weeks at home will require and call us with the likely date. Lehigh Valley Hospital–Schuylkill on East Norwegian Street in Pottsville is part of Lehigh Valley Health Network, which has been part of Jefferson Health since 2024. Geisinger St. Luke's Hospital, a joint venture of Geisinger and St. Luke's University Health Network, opened in 2019 off Route 61 near Orwigsburg. St. Luke's Hospital–Miners Campus serves the Panther Valley from Coaldale. Questions to ask at any of them:

• Which home health services are ordered, and which agency will provide them? The hospital must give you a list of agencies that serve your parent's address and respect your choice.
• Can your parent manage the front steps and an upstairs bathroom? Many row homes in Pottsville, Shenandoah, Mahanoy City and Tamaqua have both.
• Which medications are new or changed, and can they be filled before discharge?
• Will follow-up be local, or in Allentown or Bethlehem with a specialist?
• What equipment is ordered, and will it fit through the doors and up the stairs?

Then call us at (717) 695-2704. Schuylkill County is one of our outer counties, so the in-home consultation usually takes a little longer to schedule than in the Harrisburg area; calling early helps.

The first days home

After surgery or an illness, the first days home are about getting through ordinary routines with help close by. When we know the date early, we work to have a caregiver meet your parent at the house, help them up the steps and settle in, prepare a meal, and give Medication Reminders that follow the discharge instructions. Then: help with bathing and dressing, breakfast, laundry, trips up and down the stairs with someone alongside, reminders for the therapy exercises, a ride to the follow-up, and a daily note to you. If night-time bathroom trips on narrow stairs are the worry, many families start with overnight care.

Where Schuylkill County patients go home to

LVH–Schuylkill patients go home to Pottsville and the boroughs around it: Port Carbon, Saint Clair, Mount Carbon, Palo Alto, Minersville and Cressona; down Route 61 to Schuylkill Haven, Orwigsburg and Deer Lake; and north to Frackville, Ashland, Girardville, Shenandoah and Mahanoy City. Geisinger St. Luke's sees many of the same families along the Route 61 corridor and in the southern townships. St. Luke's Miners patients go home to Coaldale, Tamaqua and, across the Carbon County line, Lansford, Summit Hill and Nesquehoning. In the west, Pine Grove, Tremont and Tower City are about as close to Harrisburg as to Pottsville, and families there may be discharged from either. Schedules depend on caregiver availability; longer and recurring shifts are easier to staff than one-hour visits, and we will tell you plainly what we can cover. See our Schuylkill County page and the Pottsville community page.

Working alongside the home health agency

The home health agency handles skilled visits; we handle the hours in between. Nurses and therapists come for short, physician-ordered visits, generally covered by Medicare for patients who qualify. Our caregivers provide non-medical help: personal care, meals, light housekeeping, supervision and company. We do not provide nursing, therapy, wound care or injections. Medicare does not pay for ongoing non-medical home care. Families pay privately or use long-term care insurance, VA benefits, or a program such as OPTIONS through the Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services at (570) 622-3103. Our home care vs. home health guide explains how the two work together.

We are independent

It's Your Home Care is an independent home care agency licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. We are not affiliated with Lehigh Valley Health Network, Jefferson Health, Geisinger or St. Luke's University Health Network. Families call us directly from any of the three hospitals. Our caregivers are W-2 employees who complete criminal background checks, ChildLine clearance, TB screening and competency training before assignment. When you are ready, request an in-home consultation.