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ALTON/GODFREY - Absolute Health Care Services and Asbury Village have teamed up via the North Alton-Godfrey Business Council (NAGBC) to provide healthcare to people across the Riverbend community.
Now in its 20th year of business, Absolute Health Care Services helps families navigate Medicare and benefits in addition to providing health services for seniors. The company offers different levels of at-home care, from companionship to housekeeping to complete personal care.
“I just had an opening yesterday and the family was amazed that we could run errands or go to the grocery store for them or feed the cat or the dog,” said Debra Ross, owner of Absolute Health Care. “I’m like, ‘Look, we’ll take the load off you guys. You visit your mom and enjoy quality time with her. We’ll run to the grocery store. We’ll prepare the meals. We’ll do meal planning. We can do all that.’ They’re not being a caregiver. They’re having a relationship with their mom or their dad.”
The goal, Ross explained, is to bridge gaps in service and make it easier for people to live at home. Depending on what a client needs, Absolute Health Care matches them with a companion, sitter, registered nurse or other licensed worker. Some nurses also serve as case managers.
Ross noted that she is conscious of every family’s financials, and she tries to connect people with the services they need for the lowest price. Unlike other home health services, Absolute Health Care doesn’t require a minimum of hours or charge extra for nights or weekends. They also work in conjunction with Medicare, so people can take advantage of the services covered by Medicare in addition to private duty services from Absolute Health Care.
“There’s so many avenues of private duty home health and Medicare home health that families aren’t aware of,” Ross said. “With my business, they get confused with Medicare home health and private duty home health. So we’ll work in conjunction with them. Medicare does intermittent visits and our private duty home health can stay all day, hourly, up to 24 hours a day, and I can also schedule opposite of Medicare. So if Medicare can do three visits a week, I let them take the three visits. We don't interfere on that. We tell the clients, utilize the visits you can through Medicare so you don’t have to pay so much out of pocket.”
Absolute Health Care will work with clients to figure out what services they need. They also work with Asbury Village to provide skilled services on the Asbury Village campus in Godfrey. Ross encourages people to call her at 618-466-1010 for more information. She noted that senior health has been a passion of hers for most of her life.
“My grandmother raised me, so I was always around an older generation, and I just really loved them, adored them, respected them, was in awe of them. So when I became a nurse, I went right into home healthcare,” Ross remembered. “You have to be committed and you have to be passionate about which way you go in that profession…Every nurse has a desire and passion to work in a different [nursing] field, and thank God they do. It’s a chosen field for me.”
Ross expressed appreciation for the North Alton-Godfrey Business Council and their work to connect businesses like Absolute Health Care with the community. For more information about Absolute Health Care Services, check out this article on RiverBender.com or visit their official website at AHCSLLC.com.
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