Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care travels Allamakee County and beyond


VMH Community and Home Care ... Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care offers adults the assistance they need to remain living in their homes, as long as possible. Registered nurses and trained home care aides travel the Allamakee County and surrounding area offering nursing care and in-home assistance to people of all ages. They offer a variety of services including nursing visits, medication set-up and administration, dressing cares, IVs, catheter and colostomy cares, oversee rehabilitation in-home programs, personal cares, housework, laundry, meal preparation and errands. RN staff is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Home Care Aide services are available seven days a week as need determines. Pictured from left to right are Kelly Deeney, Home Care RN; home care client Ardis Ingvalson; and Hannah Cota, Homemaker. Submitted photo.

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care offers adults the assistance they need to remain living in their homes, as long as possible. Registered nurses and trained home care aides travel the Allamakee County and surrounding area offering nursing care and in-home assistance to people of all ages.  They offer a variety of services including nursing visits, medication set-up and administration, dressing cares, IVs, catheter and colostomy cares, oversee rehabilitation in-home programs, personal cares, housework, laundry, meal preparation and errands.  RN staff is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Home Care Aide services are available seven days a week as need determines.

A registered nurse makes the initial assessment visit in the home and helps the family to utilize all the resources available to them in the community. The home care aides provide personal cares such as bathing, dressing, hair care and exercises to prevent falls along with assistance with housekeeping, laundry, financial budgeting, errands and food management.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Home Care Aides have the distinct training and expertise that allow them to be certified as nurse assistants. Each of the VMH Community and Home Care Aides is a certified nurse assistant with over 72 hours of training before they can even begin to work at Community and Home Care. In addition, they each participate in an additional 12 hours of continuing education each year, including CPR training.

Only agencies that are certified and audited by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) require such stringent training and supervision. Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care is certified under CMS. Medicare, Medicaid (Title 19) and many private insurance companies will only pay for services provided only by a certified agency if the client is eligible under their plan.

Skilled nursing care by registered nurses is also available in conjunction with the Home Care Aide services. The nurse can assist clients with medications, wound care, catheter and colostomy care, oversee rehabilitation programs in the home, assess diabetic status and give instruction on many different health problems.  Nurses also provide injections, perform blood tests and provide IV therapy at home.

Anyone is eligible for these services. Referrals can be made by family, physicians, neighbors, friends and other health care facilities.  Whenever being discharged home from another health care facility, the patient can request VMH Community and Home Care provide their home health services.

Community and Home Care is Medicare certified and a member of the Iowa Association for Home Care. Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care (formerly Allamakee County Public Health), is located on the upper level of Veterans Memorial Hospital. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

For more information on the services and area covered by Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care, call 563-568-5660.