Mobile wound care and wound care at home in the Riverbend.

About mobile wound care in the Riverbend

The Riverbend is the name people give to the cluster of Illinois towns where the Mississippi swings east near its meeting with the Missouri: Alton, Godfrey, East Alton, Wood River, Bethalto, Roxana and Hartford. They share a river, a long history of industrial work and a set of state highways. They differ a great deal on the ground, from bluff-top neighborhoods to flat blocks of small houses to open country north of Godfrey. In every one of them, people who cannot travel easily still need wound care and regular medical follow-up, and that is the part Gateway arranges.

Each town in the Riverbend has its own housing. Wood River, Roxana, East Alton and Hartford have many compact one-story houses on a street grid, Bethalto and Godfrey have ranch homes and newer subdivisions with more land, and Alton has older houses on hills. Senior apartments, assisted living, and skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers are spread among the towns. Gateway arranges partner clinician visits in homes and facilities throughout the area, and when a patient moves from one town or setting to another, we carry the records, orders and schedule along.

Gateway arranges the same kind of visit across the region. Read more about mobile wound care in St. Louis.

Gateway arranges wound care in St. Louis across the city, the county and the Metro East, and the Riverbend is part of that area.

Towns and communities in the Riverbend

Each local page covers ZIP codes, nearby hospitals and facilities, and how to start care in that community.

• Mobile wound care in Alton
• Mobile wound care in Godfrey, Illinois

When the visit comes to the home

If a home health nurse already comes to your home in the Riverbend, wound care arranged through Gateway works alongside that service and does not replace it. The roles are different. The home health nurse usually handles dressing changes and teaching between visits. The treating wound clinician examines the wound, decides on the plan and writes or updates the orders the nurse follows. Gateway’s work on wound care alongside home health keeps the two in step: visit notes and order changes go to the agency, and the nurse’s concerns go to the clinician. If you have no home health agency, the clinician can decide whether one should be requested.

Skilled nursing, assisted living and rehabilitation

When your relative lives in a facility in the Riverbend, you are usually not in the room when the wound is seen. You can still be part of the plan. With the resident’s permission, or as the legal health care decision-maker, you can ask who is treating the wound, when it was last measured and what happens next. Useful steps:

• ask the nurse manager which day the wound clinician visits
• request that the wound be discussed at the next care plan meeting
• give the facility and Gateway one family contact for updates

Gateway can also set up a call with the wound care team when the floor staff cannot answer your question.

Wound conditions we help with in the Riverbend

Not sure which of these describes the wound you are worried about? Sorting that out is the treating clinician’s job, not yours. The list shows the range of wound conditions Gateway helps people in the Riverbend arrange care for, from pressure injuries to wounds that follow surgery.

• Diabetic foot ulcer care in the Riverbend
• Venous leg ulcer care in the Riverbend
• Pressure injury and bed sore care in the Riverbend
• Arterial and mixed wound care in the Riverbend
• Non-healing wound care in the Riverbend
• Post-surgical wound care in the Riverbend
• Care for a reopened surgical wound in the Riverbend
• Wound follow-up after a surgical site infection in the Riverbend
• Skin tear and traumatic wound care in the Riverbend
• Wound care with lymphedema in the Riverbend
• Skin graft and donor-site aftercare in the Riverbend
• Wound VAC and NPWT follow-up in the Riverbend

See every wound condition and all wound care services.

Hospitals and discharge planning near the Riverbend

The two general hospitals in the Riverbend, Alton Memorial Hospital and OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center, are both in Alton. Patients from Wood River, Bethalto and the other towns are commonly discharged from them, and Gateway has no affiliation with either. A discharge to a home a few towns away can leave a family unsure who checks the wound next. Families can call us with that question. Discharge planners can refer by phone at 314-325-0126 or fax at 314-786-7966, and we coordinate follow-up with a partner clinician and the regular doctor.

Hospitals and senior care near the Riverbend

Nearby facilities for the Riverbend, taken from public directories, are listed here as a reference.

• Hospitals nearby: Alton Memorial Hospital; OSF Saint Anthony's Health Center in Alton
• Skilled nursing and rehabilitation nearby: Alton Memorial Rehab & Therapy (Alton 62002); Nexus at Alton (Alton 62002); La Bella of Alton (Alton 62002); Bria of Wood River (Wood River 62095)

Gateway is not affiliated with any facility listed here, and a listing does not mean a partnership or referral relationship. If the patient lives in one of them, tell us its name when you call so we can contact the right nurse or front desk.

Sources: Medicare Care Compare nursing home data (CMS).

Primary care at home in the Riverbend

Families and facility staff in the Riverbend often end up as the go-between, repeating the same history to a wound clinician, a primary care office and a specialist. Arranging wound care and primary care together cuts down on that. One request to Gateway starts both. We gather the records once, share them with each treating clinician and keep a single contact list for the care team. When the wound clinician recommends a lab test, a referral or a change the primary care clinician should weigh in on, we route it to them.

Primary care at home in the Riverbend →

Getting care in the Riverbend

Because the Riverbend covers several towns, start a call with the town and ZIP code, such as 62002 for Alton, 62035 for Godfrey, 62024 for East Alton, 62095 for Wood River or 62010 for Bethalto. Add a phone number, the care setting and the regular doctor, and mention that the address is in Illinois. Availability is confirmed town by town. Gateway also arranges care in Edwardsville and Granite City, which helps when relatives live elsewhere in Madison County.

Visits are confirmed by location and care setting, so call 314-325-0126 with your ZIP code to ask about your address.

Getting started in the Riverbend takes one call.

1. Call Gateway at 314-325-0126, or have a family member or caregiver call for you.
2. Tell us where the person lives (home or facility), a little about the wound and who is treating it now.
3. We confirm whether a partner clinician is available for that location and go over your coverage questions.
4. We gather records and set up the first visit.

You do not need a referral to make the call. From the first visit on, the treating clinician makes the clinical decisions.

• County: Madison County, Illinois
• ZIP codes: 62002, 62035, 62024, 62095, 62010
• Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation

Nearby: Alton, Godfrey, Illinois, Edwardsville, Granite City

Paying for care

A wound care plan can involve more than one bill. The clinician’s visit, the dressings and supplies, home health nursing and any equipment may each come from a different provider or supplier, each with its own coverage rules. That is why Gateway asks about insurance early, for Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and commercial plans alike. We help track what each party needs, such as an order, a form or a prior authorization. Questions about what you will owe are answered by the treating provider and your plan, and you can ask before the first visit.

Common questions