ALTON - When Debra Ross saw her fellow Medicare home health nurses leaving the profession, it inspired her to open Absolute Health Care Services as another option for nurses and families in the Riverbend area.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Absolute Health Care Services offers different levels of at-home care, from companionship to housekeeping to complete personal care. This month, they’re celebrating 20 years of business.
“When you’re providing services for someone, it’s not only going in there and helping them with personal care or housekeeping,” Ross said. “There’s a lot more that’s involved in that. We advocate in every aspect of their care.”
Depending on what a client needs, Ross will connect them with a companion, sitter, registered nurse or other licensed employee. She said she is “cost-conscious” and works with clients to find a schedule that works for them.
Unlike other home health services, Absolute Health Care Services doesn’t charge extra for nights or weekends. They also don’t require a minimum of hours, so clients can utilize them as needed, even if it’s just for a few minutes at a time.
“In our business, people only need us when they need us. That’s that. And when they don’t, we’re not there,” Ross explained. “They create their schedule, they create the time, they create the days of the week…For that reason, too, we created bath and mini visits. So if someone doesn’t need us for two hours, and they need just assistance for a bath, we go in and do a bath and then we leave.”
Absolute Health Care Services can work with you to decide what assistance you need. Some clients contact them for transportation and pet care; others need help with dressing, grooming and toileting. Their services run the gamut, and their only goal is to make life easier for their clients, and maybe a little brighter, too.
“We have one client that we literally take up to Grafton to get a fish sandwich every week. That’s what he wants,” Ross laughed.
Absolute Health Care Services recognizes that a family’s decision to utilize a home health service is often a difficult and emotional one. Ross and marketing associate Hazel Morgan noted that this job is about the client, but they also try to support the loved ones as much as they can.
“You’re not only addressing the client’s needs,” Ross said. “You’re also really engaging the family and assisting them and guiding them and supporting them, too.”
Absolute Health Care Services is celebrating 20 years this month. They have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and Ross jokes that she promised employees they’ll have a cake to mark the occasion. After all these years, how are they still so successful?
“Deb was there when a lot of people weren’t,” Morgan said. There were not a lot of homecare agencies around. So word of mouth and the job that she does, they’re very well-known…[The employees are the] best of the best, and the fact that they’re all licensed and trained, you can count on them.”
To learn more about Absolute Health Care Services and what they can offer you, call them at 618-466-1010. Ross added that prospective employees should also reach out.
More like this:
