Primary care at home in the Riverbend.

House call primary care in the Riverbend

The towns of the Riverbend are close together, but getting from Hartford, Roxana or Bethalto to a doctor’s office in Alton or Edwardsville still takes a car and someone to drive it. For an older adult with diabetes, heart or lung disease, or swollen legs, missed appointments let problems build. Gateway arranges in-home primary care follow-up with partner clinicians, who review medications and follow those conditions at the kitchen table. The clinician decides the plan, and we keep records and messages moving among the doctors involved.

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.

For the full range of services, see primary care in St. Louis, including house calls, annual wellness visits and follow-up after a hospital stay.

What in-home primary care includes

A house call covers much of the ground an office visit would. Depending on what the treating clinician finds, primary care follow-up at home can include:

• A check on long-term conditions such as diabetes, heart failure or high blood pressure
• A look at every medication you take, including over-the-counter products and supplements
• Follow-up after a hospital or rehab stay, starting with the discharge papers
• A yearly wellness visit and a talk about vaccines and screenings
• Orders for lab work, imaging or a specialist, with someone tracking the results

New problems that are not emergencies, such as a lingering cough, a rash or poor sleep, can be raised too. The clinician decides what belongs in each visit. Gateway handles the scheduling and records around it.

People who benefit most

Getting to a doctor’s office is the hard part for many people in the Riverbend. Stairs, a wheelchair, an oxygen tank, no longer driving, or needing a second person just to reach the car can turn a short appointment into a full day. In-home primary care is arranged for adults in that position, whether or not they think of themselves as homebound. Our page on primary care for homebound adults goes into detail.

It also suits people recovering from surgery or living with a wound, residents of assisted living, and anyone whose longtime doctor has retired or moved and who has gone without primary care since.

How primary care supports wound healing

Swollen legs make wounds slower to heal and skin easier to break. The swelling usually has a cause somewhere else in the body, such as the heart, the kidneys, the veins or a medication. Finding that cause and managing it belongs to primary care and, at times, a specialist. Wrapping the leg and caring for the skin belongs to the wound care team.

The two depend on each other. A wound care clinician who sees a leg at every visit may be the first to notice that swelling is worse or shoes have become tight. Gateway passes that observation to the primary care clinician, who decides whether anything in the medical plan should change.

Wound care in the Riverbend →

Homes, assisted living and skilled nursing

Skilled nursing works differently from the other places where Gateway arranges primary care follow-up. Every resident already has an attending physician who is responsible for medical care, and facility nurses carry out the orders. We do not replace that team. In facilities in the Riverbend, we coordinate with the attending and the nursing staff, and we plan follow-up for the day a resident leaves. See primary care follow-up in skilled nursing.

After discharge, a partner clinician can visit at the next address, whether that is a private home, an apartment, assisted living or memory care.

Working with your existing doctors

Family caregivers do much of the daily work: filling pill boxes, tracking appointments, noticing when something is off. They belong in the conversation if you want them there. You choose who can sit in on visits, who gets updates and who can speak for you if you cannot. A caregiver’s observations, such as poor appetite, new confusion or a near fall, are useful to the treating clinician. Medical decisions remain the clinician’s, and choices about your care remain yours. The support for family caregivers page lists what to ask.

Getting started in the Riverbend

There are two ways to start in the Riverbend. The direct one is to call 314-325-0126 and talk with a coordinator. If you would like us to call you instead, send a request for care through the website. The form asks only for a name and phone number, so please leave health details out of it. When we call back, we go over where you live, what you need and who is already part of your care, then confirm whether a partner clinician can see you there.

• County: Madison County, Illinois
• ZIP codes: 62002, 62035, 62024, 62095, 62010
• Nearby hospitals: Alton Memorial Hospital; OSF Saint Anthony's Health Center in Alton (not affiliated with Gateway)
• Nearby communities: Alton, Godfrey, Illinois, Edwardsville, Granite City
• Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation

Coverage questions

You can ask Gateway about Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and commercial insurance when you call. We cannot tell you over the phone that a visit is a covered benefit, because that depends on three things: the treating practice that would see you, the details of your plan and the care the clinician finds you need. What we can do is tell you which practice would be involved, so you can confirm with your plan before the first visit. The insurance page lists questions worth asking.

Common questions

Related pages

• Alton and the Riverbend
• Primary care
• In-home primary care
• Primary care and wound care together
• Primary care at home
• Primary care at home
• Primary care at home