Coming home from WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital

Before discharge from Ephrata or Lititz

Before your parent leaves WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital or UPMC Lititz, ask the case manager what the first two weeks at home will demand and call us as soon as a date is likely. Both are community hospitals, and both arrange home health for patients who need it; the questions are the same at either:

• Which home health services are ordered, and which agency will send them? Federal rules require the hospital to give you a list of available agencies and respect your choice.
• Is your parent safe on stairs and in the shower, or should someone stand by for both?
• Which prescriptions are new or changed, and can they be filled at your parent's usual pharmacy before the ride home?
• Is the follow-up in Ephrata, in Lititz, or with a specialist in Lancaster?
• If your parent lives in a retirement community, what does the community provide on its own, and where are the gaps?

Then call us at (717) 695-2704. We ask about mobility, the house and family coverage, and schedule an in-home consultation, usually within one to two business days in the Harrisburg area and a little longer in Lancaster County.

The first days home

After surgery or an illness, the first days home are when a parent who was fine in the hospital bed finds the bathroom farther away than it used to be. When we know the date early, we work to have a caregiver meet your parent at the house, help them settle, prepare a meal and give Medication Reminders that follow the discharge sheet. After that: help with bathing and dressing, breakfast, laundry, a careful walk to the porch, reminders for the therapy exercises, and a ride and company to the follow-up. For a parent living in an independent-living cottage, a caregiver can fill the hours the community does not, such as help with showers, meals in the apartment and a walk to the dining room. Families who work in Lancaster or Reading often add overnight care for the first week.

Where Ephrata and Lititz patients go home to

Ephrata patients go home to Ephrata borough and Ephrata and West Earl townships; to Akron, Denver, Reamstown, Stevens and Adamstown near the Berks County line along US 222 and PA 272; to Terre Hill, Hinkletown and Brownstown; and east along US 322 toward Blue Ball and New Holland. UPMC Lititz patients go home to Lititz and Warwick Township, Rothsville and Brickerville along PA 501 and PA 772, Manheim to the west, and the Neffsville and Leola area to the south. See our Lancaster County page and the community pages for Ephrata and Lititz. For patients leaving the Lancaster city hospitals, see coming home from Lancaster General.

Working alongside the home health agency

Home health and home care fill different hours of the same weeks. The home health agency the hospital arranges sends nurses and therapists for short, physician-ordered visits, generally covered by Medicare for patients who qualify. Our caregivers provide non-medical help in between: personal care, meals, light housekeeping, supervision, reminders and company. We do not provide nursing, therapy, wound care or injections. With your permission, the caregiver writes down what the therapist asked your parent to practice and encourages it between visits. 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 Lancaster County Office of Aging at (717) 299-7979. Our home care vs. home health guide explains the difference in detail.

We are independent of both hospitals

It's Your Home Care is an independent home care agency licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. We are not affiliated with WellSpan Health, WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital, UPMC or UPMC Lititz. Families call us directly, and you can tell the case manager you have arranged private help so it appears in the discharge plan. Our caregivers are W-2 employees who complete criminal background checks, ChildLine clearance, TB screening and competency training before they are assigned. When you are ready, request an in-home consultation.