Going Home From Marianjoy: How to Set Up Home Care in Wheaton After Rehab

The call usually comes on a Tuesday or Wednesday: the case manager says your mother has met her rehab goals and will be discharged Friday. She has done well at Marianjoy, she can walk with the walker, and the therapists are pleased. Then the harder sentence: she should not be alone for the first couple of weeks. You live in Wheaton, you work, and you have two days to figure out who is going to be in the house. This is the checklist we walk families through when that call comes.

Before discharge: five questions for the case manager

Ask what level of supervision she needs and for how long; there is a real difference between someone who must not be alone at all and someone who needs help in the morning and evening. Ask whether home health (a nurse or physical therapist who visits a few times a week, covered by Medicare) has been ordered, because that is separate from the daily help you are arranging. Ask for the written discharge instructions and the medication list before the day of discharge, not on it. Ask what equipment is going home with her and what you need to have in the house already: a shower chair, a raised toilet seat, a bed rail. And ask the one question families forget: what are the warning signs that should send her back to the emergency room?

What hospital-to-home care actually covers

Recovery care is non-medical, but it is the part that decides whether the rehab sticks. A caregiver in the home follows the discharge plan: cueing the exercises the Marianjoy therapists prescribed, standing by during showers and transfers so nobody falls, making sure the pain medication and the blood thinner are taken on schedule, cooking the low-sodium meals the dietitian mentioned, driving to the follow-up appointment at Central DuPage, and calling you if something looks wrong. It is also companionship on the days when being home alone after weeks of round-the-clock staff feels lonely and a little frightening.

The first 72 hours at home

Most readmissions happen in the first three days, and they are usually preventable: a missed dose, a fall on the way to the bathroom at 2 a.m., dehydration, or nobody noticing that the incision looks worse. That is why we suggest heavier coverage in the first three days and then tapering. A common plan for a Wheaton family is 8 hours a day for the first three days, then 4-hour morning visits for two weeks, then a reassessment. If nights are the worry, an overnight caregiver for the first few nights is often the difference between a good recovery and a second ambulance ride.

What it costs

Bruma Home Care publishes its rates. Hospital-to-home recovery care is $34 per hour with a 4-hour minimum; once the acute period is over and the need shifts to companionship and meals, the rate drops to $30 per hour. Overnight shifts are $250. The 3-day heavy plan above (8 hours a day) is about $816; the two weeks of 4-hour mornings that follow are about $1,360 at the recovery rate, less if it steps down to companion care. Long-term care insurance usually covers this; Medicare does not, though it does cover the separate home health visits.

Why a local agency matters for a fast discharge

Our office is on Roosevelt Road in West Chicago, about ten minutes west of Marianjoy and fifteen from Central DuPage in Winfield. When a Wheaton family calls with a Friday discharge, the owner can do the in-home assessment Thursday and have a caregiver at the door when the transport van pulls up. We are licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health (Home Services Agency #3003194), our caregivers are background-checked, and you meet the caregiver before care begins. If the fit is wrong, we change it.

Frequently asked questions

How quickly can care start in Wheaton? Within 24 hours of the assessment in most cases, and same-day when a discharge is already scheduled. Call as soon as the case manager gives you a date.

Is this the same as home health? No. Home health is skilled nursing or therapy ordered by the doctor and covered by Medicare, a few visits a week. Home care is the daily, hands-on help in between those visits. Most people coming home from rehab need both.

Do you serve Glen Ellyn, Winfield and Carol Stream too? Yes. Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Winfield, Carol Stream, Warrenville and West Chicago are all within a short drive of our office and are our core service area.

Can we start with just a few days and see? Yes. There is no long-term contract. Many families book the first week, then keep what they need.

See our Wheaton home care page or call (630) 589-2973 now. If the discharge is this week, say so and we will move it to the top of the list.