LEAVING the hospital after a certain period of treatment does not always mean that a patient no longer needs continued care.
Providing home care to these patients is one of the services that Marianas Health LLC offers, its director of operations Maria Rosa Omar-Castro said.
In close partnership with the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., Marianas Health provides continuity of care for homebound patients through a team of dedicated medical and support professionals who have been providing home care services to hundreds of patients since 2000.
Marianas Health is locally owned and operated, and is certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Omar Castro said their clients are hospital or clinic in-patients who, upon discharge, may still need continued care at home. “We come in and continue providing the care recommended by the patient’s physician — the primary care provider. Our clinician will go to the patient’s home and perform the needed service,” Omar-Castro added.
Marianas Health also assists patients in availing themselves of other community resources.
For example, when a patient’s house needs repair, Marianas Health can contact Northern Marianas Housing Corp. or other responsible agencies.
If a patient needs a new bed, Marianas Health will reach out to Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems Inc. or Karidat.
Marianas Health can also help the patient fill out the necessary paper work involving Social Security or insurance benefits.
A homebound patient is someone who needs the help of another person or medical equipment such as crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair to leave his or her home, or whose health or illness could get worse if he or she leaves his or her home.
“When you meet the criteria, then the doctor will send his or her orders to us,” Omar-Castro said. “The doctors will send us instructions, diagnosis and what other care that needs to be done.”
Omar-Castro said Marianas Health has a very good relationship with CHCC. “We continue to work together. In fact, we are part of the CHCC transition care meetings held monthly to discuss whatever concerns that we have.”
Right now, she said Marianas Health is taking care of 107 homebound patients of CHCC.
But Marianas Health also caters to patients who don’t meet the homebound criteria. “They can come to the Marianas Health clinic in San Jose for therapeutics like exercises that can help get rid of lower back pain, for example.”
For more information, go to Marianas Health LLC’s Facebook page.
