The Horn Home Health Department group is standing outside, in front of the Hospital sign, smiling

Horn Community Health Celebrates 3 Years of Shared Services

July 1, 2009 marked the third anniversary of shared services between Horn Memorial Hospital and Ida County Public Health. Ida County Public Health joined Horn Memorial Home Health and Hospice in July of 2006 when the Board of Health and Board of Supervisors contracted with the hospital to provide Public Health Nursing Services. This shared alliance was re-named Horn Memorial Hospital Community Health. In just three short years, two separate teams of nursing providers representing over 260 years of nursing experience have made a seamless transition to provide "Community Health" services to the residents of this area. "When the merger took place, the experience and knowledge base was a big advantage for our department," commented Cindy Mildenstein, Community Health Nurse Manager. The Community Health Department of Horn Memorial Hospital provides Home Health, Hospice, and Public Health services.

Home Health

The Horn Home Health Department, providing nursing care since 1985, offers a team of skilled professionals to assist patients with the transition from facility care to the comfort of their own home. The nursing staff assists patients in gaining independence while placing emphasis on minimizing the effects of an illness or injury and promoting and maintaining health. Home Health offers a variety of services including nursing visits; medication management; wound care; IV therapy; blood draws for lab tests; physical, occupational and speech therapy; personal care assistance; and light housekeeping.

Home Health also offers a Happy Families Program (Healthy and Positive Parenting Years). This is a volunteer program that offers free home visitations to parents expecting a baby or who have children ages newborn to 5 years. Visits focus on teaching, encouraging and supporting parents; linking parents to area resources; and monitoring children's growth and development. The goal of the Happy Families program is to maintain healthy children and empower parents. Happy Families is a contracted service with Ida County Empowerment.

Hospice

The Hospice program, designed to meet the physical, emotional, spiritual and economical needs of terminally ill patients, has been a service of the hospital since 1995. With a team of providers that includes a medical director, physicians, registered nurses, a social worker, nurse aides/homemakers, a chaplain, and numerous dedicated volunteers, Hospice offers specialized care, comfort, support and compassion to terminally ill patients and their families. The Hospice Team includes six RN's, three of which are specially trained in pain management and one who is trained in palliative care, which is the management of chronic medical conditions. The Team provides medically-supervised care that focuses on pain and symptom control. Independence and open communication is encouraged to achieve the desired goal of a dignified death. The Hospice Team helps patients and families manage a terminal illness in their own home or at a care facility or hospital when necessary. Horn Hospice is especially set up to offer a quick response time in the event of a crisis situation -Hospice staff is on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week, including holidays. Following the death of a loved one, bereavement services continue with the patient's family members for one year. The Hospice Team makes follow-up visits and phone calls to the family and provides the support group, "Growth After Loss".

Hospice offers many services that benefit a family during the difficult time of dealing with a loved one who has a terminal illness. Cindy comments, "People often wait until late in the dying process to contact Hospice; what I hear most from our patients and families is, 'I wish I would have started Hospice sooner'." Hospice services can be initiated through referrals from physicians, family, friends, clergy or any other concerned person. Support is just a phone call away.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Services provided by Public Health complete the full service nursing care offered by Horn Memorial Community Health. Public Health covers a broad range of nursing services for the community.

Horn Public Health is a Vaccine for Children (VFC) provider. The Childhood Immunization Program promotes vaccinations for children from birth through age 18. Children who are eligible include those without insurance, those whose insurance does not pay for vaccinations and children on Medicaid.

Flu Vaccine Clinics are offered yearly at locations in each of the five towns in the county.

Maintenance Nursing includes nursing interventions and teaching to assist persons in managing a chronic health condition and maintaining and preventing the worsening of their condition. In order to receive this service, clients need not be homebound.

Postpartum Health Promotion Visits began as a service in January 2008. A postpartum home visit is offered to every Ida County mother who delivers at Horn Memorial Hospital and can be arranged by referral for any Ida County mother delivering at another facility. The visit includes physical assessment of mother and babe as well as support and teaching.

Foot Care Clinics provide foot and nail care to persons who may have problems performing this care themselves due to visual and/or other physical limitations. Clinics are held every other month in each town in the county.

The Homemaker Program provides assistance with personal care and household management. Services are provided to assist individuals or families for what may be a temporary or extended period of time.

CHIC - Coalition for a Healthy Ida County is made up of health professionals, schools, and community members to address tobacco issues in Ida County. CHIC's mission is to promote the health and well-being of our community through awareness, prevention, and cessation of tobacco use.

Disease Surveillance and Investigation is an important responsibility of Public Health staff. Managing disease outbreaks, monitoring of potential epidemics, and investigating food-borne illnesses are behind-the-scenes activities that lessen or prevent the magnitude of such events.

Bio-Emergency Preparedness is another behind-the-scenes program coordinated by Public Health staff in cooperation with local law enforcement and emergency services providers as well as state and federal groups.

Horn Memorial Community Health serves as a health resource to the community. Evaluations are provided at no charge to determine if and what services could be utilized, and referrals to other community services are made when indicated in order to best serve our patients. Payment for services may be covered by Medicare, Medicaid, Health Insurance, Grants, Private Pay and County Support. For questions on any of Community Health's services, contact Horn Memorial at 364-3311 or visit the office located in the lower level of the Medical Arts Building across from the hospital.

Patti Andrews, Assistant Nurse Manager, says, "This partnership has proven to be very beneficial. Horn Memorial Community Health can now provide continuity of care for persons at home from pregnancy and childhood to management of health issues at various stages of life to end-of life care."