by John Dowd
Partners in Home Care is a nonprofit home hospice service that has been around since 1987, and has always remained locally owned. They care for over 1,400 patients on any given day in over six counties in western Montana. One of their main service areas has been Ravalli County and they currently care for around 500 residents of the Bitterroot Valley. Because of this, it seemed an easy choice to finally open up a satellite office in the area.
Partners in Home Care hosted their ribbon cutting in Hamilton on November 13 at the new location, 1986 N. 1st Street, Suite D. According to the CEO of Partners, Corin Schneider, who attended the event, they picked this location because it is central to the valley, allowing them to reach as far as Darby and Sula. Additionally, now, patients from these communities can seek on-site assistance with their sleep aid without having to make the long trek to Missoula, which was previously the closest location for these individuals.
Schneider has been with Partners for a year and a half, and is based out of Missoula, where the organization’s head office is. Before that, she worked in nursing and in hospice-based care for 37 years. She says the nonprofit’s values aligned with her own views on health care. When asked why she joined Partners in Home Care, Schneider said it was because the company has a great reputation, and because she also appreciates its longevity and culture.
“I value the work that nonprofit organizations do,” said Schneider. “We don’t turn patients away.” Though most patients need to pay for their service with the organization, Partners in Home Care can be more flexible because of its nonprofit status. This means they are also eligible for outside funding, such as donations and grants, which are meant to aid those who need assistance with their coverage. According to Schneider, they operate knowing that a portion of their funding will be meant for these individuals, which is why they are there in the first place.
Partners in Home Care covers all of western Montana and is one of the few nonprofit home health and hospice services in the state. According to Schneider, they are able to provide high quality care to numerous small and large communities. In fact, she added that for many rural communities, they are the only provider of these services.
As for the new Hamilton location, it will primarily be a site for Positive Airway Pressure Therapy (PAP) and “the goal is to make it easier for PAP patients to receive their care,” said Schneider.
According to Dustin McIntyre, the director of home medical equipment, the thing that drives his work with Partners in Home Care is “getting to see patients’ care improve and knowing the positive impact that is going to have on their life.” He has been with the company for four years, and loves what he does. It is “really exciting to bring high quality sleep services to the residents of the Bitterroot,” said McIntyre.
McIntyre said what he likes most about his job is his patients. For McIntyre, it is all about making a “positive impact on their healthcare journey.”
When asked why the primary function of the site is sleep services, McIntyre answered that this is because these services are really best done with an office. He explained that much of the service includes teaching people about their equipment. He compared other places that generally just ship direct to customer, usually with written directions. However, this can be difficult, especially for older patients, who may have trouble understanding the proper use of their equipment. Additionally, not only do some things need to be fitted to individual patients, many times a lack of understanding or proper training on equipment can lead to perceived ineffectiveness. His belief is that having patients come in and learn first-hand can significantly increase their success with the equipment.
Rose Larson is an RN who has been cross-trained with PAP. She will be working full-time out of the Hamilton office. She has been with Partners in Home Care for nearly three years, and is excited for the opportunity this will bring to patients. “People come from so far away, logistically it is so hard,” said Larson.
She has experienced that a lot of their patients previously had to coordinate numerous appointments while visiting Missoula. Now, with a stop in the valley, they will have one less stop while trying to get everything done on a single day.
Larson loves her job, especially teaching. It makes her day to be able to simplify some of the complicated equipment for people, and to distill everything down into only what they need to know to be effective with their sleep assistance. Otherwise, she said they can get overwhelmed. She herself has sleep issues, and believes many people may also, and not realize it. She believes people should go to get tested, and said it can make a huge difference. “I wish I had known sooner,” said Larson.
The new Partners in Home Care location services everyone from 18 to 90 plus; anyone with a sleep trouble diagnosis. It will also operate as a base of operations for any of their staff working in the valley, because it is outfitted with a staff office for them. It will be open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. as well as by appointment only on Fridays. The office is located at 1986 North 1st Street, Suite D, Hamilton. The organization can be reached at (406) 327-3751.