Coming home from the hospital
Coming home from Reading Hospital
Reading Hospital is one of the largest in Pennsylvania, and its patients go home to row homes in the city, suburbs in Exeter and Wyomissing, and boroughs from Kutztown to Boyertown. Someone should be there when they arrive.
Care arranged before discharge from Reading Hospital or St. Joseph.
Help through the door and the stairs, the first meal, the first night.
Medication reminders per the discharge plan and accompaniment to follow-up appointments.
Caregivers matched on language when a family asks; Spanish is a common request in Reading.
Coordination with the home health agency the hospital arranges.
Before discharge
- Ask the case manager what the first two weeks will require and which home health services are ordered.
- Call us with the date. We ask about mobility, the home (Reading’s row homes often mean stairs), language preferences, and family coverage.
- Prepare the house: first-floor sleeping if the stairs are a problem, clear paths, a chair with arms, prescriptions filled ahead.
- Choose the coverage: daytime, overnight, or 24-hour for the first week.
The first days home in Berks County
The caregiver meets your parent at the house, helps them settle, prepares a meal, sets up the medication schedule per the discharge instructions, and stays through the evening or overnight. Then bathing help, breakfast, safe trips up and down the stairs, reminders for the therapy exercises, a ride to the follow-up, and a daily note to you. Skilled visits come from the home health agency the hospital arranges.
Where Reading Hospital patients go home to
Reading and the boroughs that ring it (West Reading, Wyomissing, Shillington, Mohnton, Sinking Spring, Laureldale); Exeter, Muhlenberg, Spring and Cumru townships; Kutztown, Fleetwood and Hamburg to the north; Boyertown, Birdsboro and Douglassville to the south. See our Berks County page and Reading city page.
Other situations we help with
Coming home from the hospital
The hospital wants the bed. The discharge planner says someone needs to be home. You have a job, kids, and maybe a two-hour drive. This is the situation we are built for.
After surgery
A hip, a knee, a heart, a back. The surgeon says recovery at home is fine as long as someone is there. You want to say yes to that. Here is how to make it true.
Overnight care
Days are manageable. Nights are not. Bathroom trips at 2 a.m., wandering, confusion, or a spouse who has not had an unbroken night's sleep in a year. An overnight caregiver changes the whole household.
After a fall
A fall changes everything in a day. Whether it ended in the ER or just a scare on the kitchen floor, the question is the same: how do we keep this from happening again without taking away their independence?
Frequently asked questions
Are you affiliated with Tower Health or Penn State Health?
Can you match a Spanish-speaking caregiver?
How quickly can you start after a Reading Hospital discharge?
This article is general information for Pennsylvania families and is not medical, legal, financial, or insurance advice. It's Your Home Care is a non-medical home care agency licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health; we do not provide skilled nursing or medical services. Program rules and eligibility change; confirm details with the agency or program named, your physician, or a qualified advisor before making decisions.
Talk to a care coordinator who knows Berks County
Tell us what is happening at home. We will explain your options, including what private pay, long-term care insurance, VA benefits, and Pennsylvania waiver programs may cover, and schedule an in-home care consultation when you are ready.