June 14, 2019
Home Care
For children with special needs or complex medical conditions, there is often no place better than home to heal. Living at home allows kids to be surrounded by love, family and the things they hold dear, even in the most difficult of situations. The goal of St. Mary’s Home Care is to provide extraordinary care and support services in the home to help patients regain independence and achieve a better quality of life.
There’s No Place Like Home
St. Mary’s Home Care is a Special Needs Certified Home Health Agency (CHHA) qualified to provide specialized care to kids with special needs or other medically complex conditions. St. Mary’s Home Care clinicians provide home visits to children and young adults in the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau, and Suffolk. St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children pioneered the first long-term home care program for children in New York over 30 years ago, a step that provided increased independence and better living for many children throughout the area.
We continue to take pride in providing leadership and innovation in home-based health care for children in New York. Every year, we serve thousands of patients from birth to 44 years of age with innovative, personalized supports and services for people with cerebral palsy, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), seizures, hydrocephalus, HIV/AIDS or other complex medical conditions.
Supporting St. Mary’s Kids
Our services include a range of professional programs and treatments uniquely tailored to the needs of each one of St. Mary’s Kids. They include:
- Physical, speech and occupational therapy
- Skilled nursing care
- Direct observation therapy
- Medical social services and social work
- Nutrition planning and support
- Medical equipment and supplies
- Telehealth
St. Mary’s Home Care takes a family-centered, team approach to care. We work closely with every family to provide St. Mary’s Kids with a comfortable transition to their home. and then we continue to coordinate care with the patient’s physician, family, and other health professionals. as we work to develop a family plan to help each child thrive. Our services are available throughout the region, and we support pediatric patients in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, and Westchester.
Family-Centered Supports
We also provide an array of specialized services in the home that help people to make the transition to independent living. For example, our medication management team can review each child’s care plan, medications, and side effects, working with the child and family to protect their safety. We can also provide an environmental assessment of the family home to highlight and reduce any hazards or barriers in the house.
When we prepare the transition to home care, we know that many families are concerned about the potential effects of a crisis on their children. Our St. Mary’s emergency management team can teach patients and their families how to recognize an emergency situation that requires professional assistance.
Nutrition is another factor that can make a big difference for children with medically complex conditions. In some cases, the kids we serve at St. Mary’s may have multiple food allergies or intolerances, while in other cases, eating a generally healthful diet can help to reduce symptoms. We can help prepare a home-based nutrition plan that is sustainable, affordable and supportive.
In addition, our home care team are always on call. With the St. Mary’s Home Care telehealth program, our New York families can receive remote monitoring services. Our Telehealth RN will be alert for emergencies and patient needs, and St. Mary’s home care nurses can come to the home to follow up on an urgent situation.
