Home care after a hospital stay in Arvada, CO: the first weeks home, settled

Questions worth asking before you leave the hospital

Discharge is a busy hour and it is the wrong time to be shy. Write the questions down before the case manager arrives: What can this person not do alone for now? Which medicines changed, and what happens if one is skipped? Where is the follow-up appointment, and who books the ride? What equipment is coming home, and who pays for it? What symptoms mean a return trip rather than a phone call?

Ask for the discharge papers in writing, including the medication list with doses, and keep one copy in the house rather than in a folder somewhere. A caregiver who arrives after a discharge reads that packet first. If something in it contradicts what the family heard in the room, call the office and ask; nobody is expected to hold hospital instructions in memory during a week like this one.

Where Arvada families actually go

Arvada itself sits in neither of the two big central-city hospitals, but the near ones are close enough that families know them by name. Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital is at 12911 West 40th Avenue in Wheat Ridge, immediately south of Arvada, with emergency care listed as open and visiting hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. St. Anthony Hospital, at 11600 W 2nd Pl in Lakewood, states on its page that it is a Level I Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center with 237 licensed beds.

Closer to the north edge of Arvada is St. Anthony North Hospital, at 14300 Orchard Pkwy in Westminster, whose page states 206 licensed beds and that after 8 p.m. the main lobby locks, with entry through the emergency department walk-in entrance. That detail is the kind families discover at 9 p.m. on a Tuesday. Check each hospital's current visiting information before you go, since it changes.

In town, for the smaller stuff

Most first-week needs never reach a hospital. CommonSpirit Emergency & Urgent Care Arvada is at 16320 W 64th Ave, with urgent care hours listed Monday through Sunday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and on-site CT, ultrasound, lab and X-ray; check current hours before you go. The page also notes that non-emergency visits are billed at urgent care rates and that two bills arrive, one from CommonSpirit and one from the physician group, which surprises people more than it should.

UCHealth Urgent Care Arvada West sits at 15240 W. 64th Avenue, listed with hours Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; hours may vary, so check current hours. Having both addresses in the phone before a weekend is worth the thirty seconds, because a follow-up question at 5 p.m. on Saturday should not turn into a drive across the metro.

Prescriptions and equipment

The pharmacy run is the errand that decides whether the evening goes smoothly. The King Soopers at 58th and Ralston, 9731 W 58th Ave., lists a walk-up pharmacy with the phone number 303-421-1200, and pharmacy hours change through the week with a daily closure; check current hours before you head over. Filling the new prescriptions the same day as discharge, rather than at midnight, is the single most useful thing a family can do.

For equipment, the City of Arvada's Senior Assistance page links Dave's Locker for medical equipment, and the same page links the City of Arvada Lock Box Program, which matters when caregivers, EMTs and family members all need a way into the house without a spare key under the mat. Both programs are listed by the city as resources for residents, and each is worth confirming directly for current availability.

Getting to the follow-up appointment

Appointments are where recovery quietly falls apart, usually because of the ride. RTD Access-a-Ride, the ADA complementary paratransit for people who cannot use fixed-route bus or light rail because of a disability, takes reservations one to seven days in advance, has no same-day service, and serves locations within three-quarters of a mile of RTD's local fixed-route system. Booking the return trip before the appointment starts is the habit that works.

The city's Senior Assistance page separately lists transportation resources for residents: Andy's House Transportation, PRN Transit, Transdev Health Solutions, and Via Mobility Services at 303-444-3043. Individual program details vary, so call and ask what a ride to a medical appointment costs and how far ahead to book. A family that has three options written down stops depending on one person's day off.

Most rides in the first weeks still come from family, and the failure mode is a person who cannot manage a front walk unassisted arriving at an office with nobody sure what happens next. Ask at discharge whether the person can get in and out of a car alone, whether a rolling walker is coming home, and whether the follow-up office wants to see the discharge papers. Those three answers decide who drives and whether the driver stays through the appointment or waits in the lot, which is the difference between a visit and a scramble.

The first weeks home, at 5,525 feet

Arvada's elevation is listed at 5,525 feet, and altitude plus a recent hospital stay is a slow combination rather than a dramatic one. Appetite, sleep and patience all run thin in the first fortnight, and the household usually underestimates how much of the day is simply watching: Is the fluid intake there? Was the walk taken? Did the pills line up in the weekly box? Those checks are ordinary, and they are exactly what non-medical home care covers.

A caregiver in the house a few hours a day handles the meals, the laundry, the errands, the medication reminders, and the company, while the family handles the calls that only family can make. In Arvada, hourly care runs $43 per hour with a three-hour minimum per visit, and there is no long-term contract, so the first weeks can be covered without committing to a year of anything.

What non-medical help does not cover

Being clear about the line is part of being worth hiring. Non-medical home care does not perform clinical tasks, take over medical decisions, or replace the follow-up appointments the hospital scheduled. It does keep the house running so those appointments are reachable: the bed changed, the groceries in the fridge, the ride arranged, the walk actually taken, the person not sitting alone in a quiet room for six hours.

If the first weeks home in Arvada look heavier than expected, call (303) 757-1777 for a free 20-minute phone conversation, then a free in-home assessment at your home or by video, with no obligation. Bring the discharge packet. A real person answers, and a straight answer about fit takes one call.

Local resources in Arvada

• Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital is at 12911 West 40th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, CO, phone 303-425-4500, with emergency care listed as open and visiting hours 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Source
• St. Anthony Hospital (CommonSpirit Health) is at 11600 W 2nd Pl, Lakewood, CO 80228, and its page states it is a Level I Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center with 237 licensed beds. Source
• St. Anthony North Hospital is at 14300 Orchard Pkwy, Westminster, CO 80023; its page states 206 licensed beds and that after 8 p.m. the main lobby locks, with entry via the ED walk-in entrance. Source
• CommonSpirit Emergency & Urgent Care Arvada is at 16320 W 64th Ave, Arvada, CO 80007, phone 303-925-4560, with urgent care listed Monday-Sunday 7:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. (check current hours), on-site CT, ultrasound, lab and X-ray, and a note that two bills arrive (CommonSpirit plus the physician group). Source
• UCHealth Urgent Care - Arvada West is at 15240 W. 64th Avenue, Arvada, CO 80007, phone 303.463.7185, hours listed Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; check current hours. Source
• The King Soopers at 58th and Ralston (9731 W 58th Ave) lists a walk-up pharmacy with phone 303-421-1200; pharmacy hours change through the week with a daily closure, so check current hours. Source
• The City of Arvada's Senior Assistance page links Dave's Locker (medical equipment) and the City of Arvada Lock Box Program. Source
• RTD Access-a-Ride reservations must be made one to seven days in advance, there is no same-day service, and it serves locations within 3/4 mile of RTD's local fixed-route system. Source
• The city's Senior Assistance page lists these transportation resources: Andy's House Transportation, PRN Transit, Transdev Health Solutions, and Via Mobility Services (phone 303-444-3043). Source
• Arvada's elevation is 5,525 feet (1,684 m) per its Wikipedia infobox. Source

More resources for Arvada families

• Dementia Care at Home in Arvada, CO
• Respite Care for Family Caregivers in Arvada, CO
• How to Choose a Home Care Agency in Arvada, CO
• Paying for Home Care in Arvada, CO