Named by Fazzi Associates – Based on Survey Results from 2020
We offer the finest in skilled care through our home health and hospice services.
Since opening its offices in Friona, Texas, Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice has been dedicated to providing a team of healthcare professionals who treat our patients and families the same way we would treat our own family members.
Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice was founded on a vision of providing patients with a more seamless transition from one phase of life to another. Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice in Friona, Texas was purchased in 2005 from Parmer County Community Hospital where it had been providing home health services to Parmer County and the surrounding area since 1993. Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice has been licensed to provide hospice services since 2007 and received deemed status through CHAP accreditation in 2011 to provide hospice services to Medicare patients. This allowed patients and their families to continue on with staff they were already familiar with and increase their comfort level as they transitioned from home health to hospice.
We are proud of our commitment to enhancing the health of our communities; providing superior services to our patients; delivering outstanding clinical skills, and supporting our knowledgeable, skilled and caring staff.
We offer the finest in professional home care services and a highly skilled healthcare staff in the area. With hospital stays getting shorter and an emphasis on outpatient services, we have built a home health service that provides a cost effective way to help you or your loved one heal in the privacy and comfort of your home.
We hope you’ll join our family of healthcare professionals and caregivers. We will always be here to support you.
Home Health services are designed to provide a full range of services to the patient in familiar surroundings. Anyone who is medically confined to their home and needs skilled, intermittent care as authorized by their physician is eligible for home health services.
Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice offers the following home health services.
Nursing Provides:
Certified Home Health Aides Provide:
Other Services Provided:
Hospice services are designed to provide a caring environment for the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the terminally ill. Care can be provided for the patient, family and friends in their home, nursing facility or a foster care home without repeated hospital stays.
The goal of Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice personnel is to provide symptom management and pain control. Hope of remission or cure is never abandoned but the focus is on providing palliative (comfort) care not curative care.
Our services allow patients to retain their dignity, while realizing quality is more important than quantity in their remaining days.
Any person with a terminal illness (life expectancy of approximately six months or less if the disease takes its normal course) is eligible for hospice care.
The patient, family and physician must understand and agree to the principles of hospice. These principles advocate symptom control and quality of life for the patient and family.
Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice offers the following hospice services:
Penny joined Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice as a registered nurse in 2007 and was promoted to Clinical Manager of Friona Bluebonnet Home Health and Hospice in 2014.
She began her career as a charge nurse at Parmer County Community Hospital now knows as Parmer Medical Center, after receiving her associate degree of nurse science (RN) from Clovis Community College. Penny was raised in Bovina, TX and graduated from Bovina High School.
Lori joined Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice as a registered nurse in 2015 and was promoted to Clinical Manager of Friona Bluebonnet Home Health and Hospice in 2018.
Raised in Liberal, KS, Lori graduated from Liberal High School in 1992. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (RN) from West Texas A & M University in December 1998. She met her husband at college and they made a home in Friona, TX in 1999. She began her career as a Registered Nurse at Friona Home Health in 1999.
Dr. Jubay moved here from Las Vegas about twenty years ago with his lovely wife Dita.
As a physician, Dr Jubay encourages his patients to” Take their medication as prescribed – never stop them or try to adjust them on their own and to make sure you return for scheduled blood tests every six months or as directed.” Never hesitate to come in to be checked when you are not feeling well and get your annual flu and pneumonia shots!
It’s difficult to watch a loved one decline in health but it’s up to you to acknowledge the progression of your loved one’s illness. It’s up to you to discuss with them what their wishes are for their care and plans for their death as uncomfortable as it may be.
This is a list of things that will help you through the hard times.
What are Advance Directives? Advance Directives provide you a way to communicate to your family, friends and health care professionals what kind of medical care you want if you were too ill or hurt to express your wishes. Advance directives are legal documents that allow you to convey your decisions about end-of-life care ahead of time.
A living will tells how you feel about care intended to sustain life. You can accept or refuse medical care. Issues to consider and put into writing include;
A durable power of attorney for health care is a document that names your health care proxy. Your proxy is someone you trust to make health decisions if you are unable to do so.
Take time to learn about your loved one’s illness. Ask questions. Educate yourself on what you can expect and what resources are available to help you. Remember to keep them involved in the decisions that need to be made. Respect their wishes.
Home care offers an alternative to your loved the opportunity to heal at home. Often, when someone is required to leave home to receive long-term care, it signifies a loss of independence and this can cause depression and a feeling of being a burden on the family.
With home care your loved one is able to stay in their home with the assistance of health care professionals in a cost effective way. Close communication continues with their physicians and you as the family and caregivers. Education is provided to you on how to care for them. You are able to ask questions and expect outstanding care.
When the end-of-life is growing closer, your home health can assist you by talking to you, your loved one and their physician about end-of-life care. What is end-of-life care? It’s hospice. Hospice provides a team approach for support, assistance with medications, pain control, counseling and skilled staff. Hospice allows the patient to die in their own home with dignity, comfort and the assurance that the ones they care for will receive bereavement support after their death. With the support of their hospice team, the dying process will be a more comforting experience for them and you.
Seek support from friends that have had similar experiences, other family members, your church and your hospice and home health team. Don’t try to go it alone. Seek support, you will need it.
Home Health care is skilled care provided in the comfort of a patient’s residence by a skilled nurse or therapist. Care is focused on helping individuals manage a chronic condition and/or recover from illness, surgery, accident or change in medical status. At Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice, we create individual care plans specific to the patient’s needs.
Medicare pays 100 percent for those who qualify. Medicaid and private insurance may also pay for home care. Benefits vary by policy and verification of benefits is required.
Patients must be 65 years of age or older, have a skilled need and be homebound. The primary care physician must provide a referral and order for home health care. Patients younger than 65 may qualify if they have received Social Security disability benefits for at least two years or they currently receive Medicare disability benefits.
Medicare considers you homebound if you have:
This is just a partial list. Feel free to contact our office for further assistance or information regarding being homebound.
Yes. The patient can use Medicare. If the patient is covered by the employer’s health insurance plan, that plan could be used in conjunction with Medicare benefits. However, a patient cannot be working outside the home and also considered home bound.
Yes. However, the patient must meet the following criteria:
Hospice is a service. It is designed to provide a caring environment for the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the terminally ill. Care can be provided for patients in their home, a nursing facility or a foster care home without repeated hospital stays. The goal of Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice personnel is symptom management and pain control. Hope of remission or cure is never abandoned but the focus is on providing palliative (comfort) care not curative care. Our services allow patients to retain their dignity while realizing quality is more important than quantity in their remaining days.
Not always, hospice care can be provided in most long-term care facilities, hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Once a patient has been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness and life expectancy is less than six months, a physician then refers the patient to hospice. Once it is confirmed the hospice patient and caregivers understand the definition of hospice care and that it is aimed at comfort rather than an actual cure, a form called “Election of Benefit” will be signed by the patient and then hospice services begin.
Home Health focuses on patient recovery. Hospice focuses on facilitating comfort and providing support when recovery is no longer an option. Hospice care is provided by an interdisciplinary team of specialists including physicians, nurses, grief support counselors, social workers, aides, and volunteers. At Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice, hospice centers on the patient and family. Family focus is imperative, as caregivers must feel empowered to care for the patient. Furthermore, family members must be prepared to manage the inevitable grief that accompanies this process. That is why our entire team supports the family while hospice care is actively being provided to the patient, along with offering grief counseling and bereavement after death of the loved one.
Medicare pays 100 percent for those who qualify. Medicaid, private insurance and HMOs will also pay for hospice care. Benefits vary per policy and verification of benefits is required. Most insurance policies cover the entire cost of hospice services, although some may require a co-pay.
The patient can then be discharged from hospice care to return to some form of aggressive treatment and even resume daily life. Additional coverage is allowed by Medicare and by most insurance should the patient need to return to hospice care.
A physician must refer a patient to hospice after medically determining the patient has a terminal illness. At that time the patient would proceed with the qualifications process.
The patient and their family should always feel free to discuss this type of care with their health care professional(s) and even their friends, because it is necessary to prepare for the type of care the patient wishes to receive at the end of life.
Once a patient is referred to Bluebonnet Home Health & Hospice for hospice care, the office will contact the patient’s physician to ensure hospice care is appropriate for the patient. A staff member will contact the hospice patient or caregiver confirming that the patient understands the definition of hospice care and that it is aimed at comfort rather than an actual cure. A form called “Election of Benefit” will be signed by the patient and then hospice services begin.
Our offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Our on-call 24-hour phone number for contacting a registered nurse will be available to our patients.
304 East 11th Street
Friona, TX 79035
Phone
(806) 247-0057
Toll Free
(866) 662-8057
Fax
(806) 247-0187
© Bluebonnet Home Health and Hospice. All Rights Reserved.