By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
It has been two weeks since Jewish Family Service expanded its Seattle-based Home Care Associates program to Snohomish County and the new program director, a 23-year career nurse, Fran Whitman, has hit the ground running, already helping new clients.
Aging in place, as it’s called in the health care industry, is a growing trend and a booming business that is redefining the options for growing old in the United States.
“There’s a huge population that doesn’t meet the home-bound criteria but still requires assistance while living in their homes,” said Whitman, who came to JFS from Visiting Nurse Services. “There’s a huge demand for this. People don’t want to go to a facility.”
Home Care Associates, a separate, for-profit division of JFS, currently employs over 185 aides, who are matched with clients that in many cases must adjust to accepting outside help in performing basic tasks in their home for the first time.
“There are some people who don’t want ‘strangers’ in their home or are very independent and don’t want help,” said Whitman. “We have other clients who only want four, or 10 or 12 hours of care a week while others want someone to live with them 24/7. We have aides who provide companionship and housekeeping or we can provide personal care and homemaker services.”
Personal care includes helping clients with eating, bathing, toileting, exercising, transferring, and administering medications. Homemaker services can include housekeeping, laundry, errands, and shopping. The program does not provide health care in the home, however.
Home Care Associates is currently licensed in King and Snohomish counties and operates with a Washington State Department of Health In-home Services License. Whitman said the program has a large client base and contracts with the City of Seattle, Group Health Hospice Care, and the Veterans Administration.
The HCA program fits in nicely with the agency’s long-term strategic plan, which was designed to grow the agency by helping the whole community, whether Jewish or not, live healthy and productive lives throughout the lifecycle.
JFS is planning to increase its visibility in the region by providing more community education, public outreach, and collaborating with other social service agencies in the area. But the Home Care program is all about helping people help themselves.
“It’s a business model, but we bring our social service agency values to it,” said Claudia Berman, chief operating officer at JFS. “Excess revenues from that program support the other programs at the agency.”
The new office, located at 8625 Evergreen Way in Everett, is a complement to other offices JFS operates. The Kent site provides services to the refugee population there and the Bellevue office conducts a Russian outreach program as well as offering services to the aging.
Since March, Whitman has concentrated her efforts in Everett toward recruiting and hiring qualified home care professionals. All of her staff is either Certified Nursing Assistants, Licensed Professional Nurses who are CNAs, or Home Health Aides who have basic care skills but are not certified.
Summer is typically a slow time, said Whitman, but this summer has been unusually busy.
“Our youngest client is 27,” she said. “He is a veteran of the Iraq War. The oldest client is 102 and she is still living in her home. And, our frail elderly need help.”
Costs to utilize Home Care Associates, after an October rate increase, will range from $24.50 per hour to $267 per day for a live-in aide. The service can also provide transportation for clients to run errands or just go for a drive. Private insurance will cover many offered services, or users can pay out-of-pocket. In addition, JFS provides fully subsidized in-home services for Holocaust survivors for a limited period.
HCA will start the process free of charge by sending out a professional to assess the client’s needs.
“We will typically have an R.N. and two social workers who are case managers, usually on the same day, assess necessary care, make recommendations, do the scheduling, and provide a complete care plan,” said Whitman. “If there’s a change in their condition, they go out and make an assessment. Then, we follow up periodically or as needed free of charge.”
Whitman has found herself visiting clients in more rural parts of the county like Gold Bar and up to the Skagit county line. She would also like to serve people on Whidbey, Camano, and Vashon Islands, if possible.
“I’m a nurse. I’ve worked in med-surgery, oncology, and the Intensive Care Unit,” she said. “I really feel that I want to be involved in community health care. This was the right move for me. I love the work that I’m doing. This is very satisfying work.”