Home Care After a Hospital Stay in Broomfield, CO: The First Weeks Home

Questions to ask before leaving the building

Ask for the discharge papers in writing and read them at the bedside, not in the car. You want the medication list with doses and timings, including anything that is new and anything that stopped. Ask what the warning signs are, who to call at night, and which tasks are safe for a family member versus a clinician. Ask how long the restrictions last, when the next appointment is, and who is responsible for transportation to it.

UCHealth Broomfield Hospital at 11820 Destination Drive, Broomfield, CO 80021, phone 303.464.4500 with a Spanish line at 844.945.2500, is a 40-bed community hospital that opened in 2016 and serves Broomfield, Westminster, Boulder and surrounding communities. Its own description lists emergency care, lab, radiology, surgery and a rehabilitation unit, and it also admits pediatric patients 16 and older who weigh at least 100 pounds. If your discharge came from there, the hospital's rehab and nursing staff are the ones who can explain the restrictions in the most specific terms.

Also ask about durable medical equipment while you are still there. A walker, a shower seat and a raised toilet seat are much easier to arrange from a hospital bed than from a kitchen table three days later.

Food, when the only thing on the list is easy

The weeks after a discharge are the weeks when cooking gets skipped. Two local programs cover that gap. Broomfield Project Homecoming provides up to five free home-delivered meals after a recent hospital stay for Broomfield residents 60 and older recovering at home, at 303-464-5532. Broomfield Meals on Wheels delivers hot meals Monday through Friday to Broomfield residents aged 60 and older, with income-based assistance available, on the same number.

Meals are also where the medical and the ordinary meet. The Broomfield Community Center hosts monthly VNA Medical Foot Care clinics, 720-392-6761. The same facility runs the activity rooms and weekday lunch that make a recovery month less lonely.

The community center itself is at 280 Spader Way, phone 303-464-5500. Its amenities include a competition cold pool with nine lanes, a warm pool with six lanes, a hot tub, a therapy pool, a woodshop and a pottery and creative space. A warm pool and a gentle movement class are not a substitute for rehabilitation, but they are the kind of low-impact activity a recovering adult can keep doing after the formal sessions end. Check current pool schedules, because they change with the season.

The same building hosts a free Broomfield Hearing Clinic with screenings and device checks, at 303-465-4327. Untreated hearing loss tends to read as confusion from the outside, and it makes every instruction given at discharge harder to follow. Check current clinic dates before planning around them.

Getting to the appointments you were sent home with

Most discharge instructions assume somebody can drive. DRCOG's Transportation Program provides free transportation for eligible adults 60 and older to personal and medical appointments through contracted providers in the Denver metro, at 720-278-2345. Eligibility rules apply, so call early rather than on the morning of the appointment.

RTD FlexRide is an on-demand, curb-to-curb service within Broomfield and to nearby RTD stations, booked online or by app, at 303-299-6000. For riders who cannot use regular RTD transit, Access-a-Ride is the ADA shared-ride service, reached at 303-299-2960, and it requires an application and approval. Once approved, reservations must be made one to seven days ahead and there is no same-day service, which is another good reason to schedule the whole recovery month at once.

If a family member cannot manage the ride or the paperwork, that is exactly what a paid caregiver is for. Home care after a discharge usually looks like accompaniment, meal preparation, light housekeeping, help with the shower and remembering the paperwork.

The recovery month in a Broomfield home

Set up for the neighborhood you are actually in. Broomfield runs along the US-36 corridor between Denver and Boulder, covers 34 square miles and has a population of 78,453, and it sits at an elevation of about 5,340 feet. Anyone planning a winter recovery should know that the western and southwestern Denver suburbs average 65 to 70 inches of snow a season, against about 47 inches near Denver International Airport, and that a driveway in February is a serious problem for a person using a walker.

The first week at home has a shape, and it is mostly ordinary work. A non-medical caregiver's first visit is orientation: where the discharge papers live, when each pill is taken, what the doctor said about stairs and lifting, and what dinner looks like for someone who is tired by five. From there the week fills in the same way for most families: breakfast and a shower in the morning, a ride or a walk, laundry, a meal made while there is still energy for one, and a written note of anything that looked wrong so it can be mentioned at the next appointment instead of remembered at 2 a.m.

The good news is that help is close and mostly indoors. The free Tech Café drop-in program at the Community Center offers help with phones, tablets and computers, which is where families often get stuck after a discharge, since portals, appointments and insurance letters all moved online. There is also the option of a program rather than a schedule: InnovAge PACE provides all-inclusive health care and support for eligible adults 55 and older with significant care needs, at 303-970-8410.

When you would rather have a person on a regular schedule than a list of phone numbers, that is what a home care agency is for. Our Broomfield caregivers can come three days a week or more, matched on skills and personality, with dementia-trained caregivers available for families that need them. Start with the free in-home assessment and see whether a few paid hours a week covers the gap. There is no obligation, and you can stop if it is not working.

Keep one notebook for the recovery month. Medication changes, appointment dates, the questions you forgot to ask, the measurements a visiting service wanted: it all lives in one place, and whoever is in the house that day can read the last page instead of interrogating the person recovering. Non-medical caregivers do not do clinical tasks. They do the ordinary work that makes following instructions possible.

Local resources in Broomfield

• UCHealth Broomfield Hospital is at 11820 Destination Drive, Broomfield, CO 80021, phone 303.464.4500 (Spanish 844.945.2500). Source
• UCHealth Broomfield Hospital is a 40-bed community hospital that opened in 2016, serving Broomfield, Westminster, Boulder and surrounding communities, with emergency care, lab, radiology, surgery and a rehabilitation unit. Source
• Project Homecoming provides up to five free home-delivered meals after a recent hospital stay for Broomfield residents 60+ recovering at home; phone 303-464-5532. Source
• Broomfield Meals on Wheels delivers hot meals Monday-Friday to Broomfield residents aged 60+, with income-based assistance available; phone 303-464-5532. Source
• The Broomfield Community Center hosts monthly VNA Medical Foot Care clinics, 720-392-6761, and a free Broomfield Hearing Clinic for screenings and device checks, 303-465-4327. Source
• The Broomfield Community Center is at 280 Spader Way, phone 303-464-5500, with amenities including a competition cold pool with 9 lanes, a warm pool with 6 lanes, a hot tub, a therapy pool, a woodshop and a pottery and creative space. Source
• DRCOG's Transportation Program provides free transportation for eligible adults 60+ to personal and medical appointments through contracted providers in the Denver metro; phone 720-278-2345. Source
• RTD FlexRide is an on-demand, curb-to-curb service within Broomfield and to nearby RTD stations, booked online or by app; phone 303-299-6000. Source
• RTD Access-a-Ride, the ADA shared-ride service for riders who cannot use regular RTD transit, is reached at 303-299-2960; application and approval required. Source
• Access-a-Ride reservations must be made one to seven days ahead and there is no same-day service. Source
• The free Tech Café offers drop-in help with phones, tablets and computers at the Broomfield Community Center. Source
• InnovAge PACE provides all-inclusive health care and support for eligible adults 55+ with significant care needs; phone 303-970-8410. Source
• Broomfield sits at an elevation of about 5,340 feet along the US-36 corridor, with a population of 78,453 and 34 square miles. Source
• The western and southwestern Denver suburbs average 65 to 70 inches of snow per season, versus about 47 inches near Denver International Airport. Source

More resources for Broomfield families

• Dementia Care at Home in Broomfield, CO
• Respite Care for Family Caregivers in Broomfield, CO
• How to Choose a Home Care Agency in Broomfield, CO
• Paying for Home Care in Broomfield, CO: Costs and Options