Mobile wound care and wound care at home in Alton.

About mobile wound care in Alton

Alton rises from the Mississippi River in steep hills and bluffs, on the Illinois side upriver from St. Louis. The Clark Bridge connects it to Missouri, and the Great River Road follows the bluffs toward Grafton. It is an old city with brick streets, tall houses and neighborhoods that sit above or below one another. Those hills are part of what people love about Alton, and they are hard on anyone with a leg wound, poor balance or limited strength. Gateway arranges wound care and primary care in the home or facility, so the hills stay outside the door.

Much of the housing in Alton is older: large houses in the historic districts, frame houses on narrow lots, apartments in converted buildings and newer homes farther from the river. Many front doors are reached by a long flight of steps. The city and its neighbors also have senior apartments, assisted living, and skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers. Gateway arranges visits from partner clinicians in every one of these settings. We ask about steps, entrances and parking ahead of time, and in facilities we coordinate the visit and the resulting orders with nursing staff.

The main guide to mobile wound care in St. Louis explains who it helps and how visits are arranged.

To compare options before you call, read our guide to St. Louis wound care, which covers clinics, home visits and facility care for Alton and nearby communities.

When the visit comes to the home

For a family caregiver, the hard part of a parent’s wound is often the logistics: time off work, getting someone with a sore leg into a car, a long wait at a clinic. When Gateway arranges wound care at home in Alton, the visit comes to the house instead. You can be in the room, join by phone or ask for a call afterward, as long as the patient agrees. Tell us who helps with dressing changes and how much they can realistically do. The treating clinician uses that to build a plan the household can carry out. Our page for families caring for someone with a wound explains more.

Skilled nursing, assisted living and rehabilitation

Rehabilitation stays are short and busy, and a wound can get lost between therapy sessions. For patients in rehabilitation centers in Alton, Gateway arranges wound visits around the therapy schedule, so the clinician can see the wound without costing the patient a session. The other priority is the next move. Before discharge, we ask where the patient is going, who will do dressing changes there and whether supplies and orders are in place. If follow-up at home or in a long-term care setting is wanted, it can be requested before the patient leaves, so the plan started in rehab continues with the same information.

Wounds you can call about

Referring offices, home health agencies and facilities in Alton can use this list as a guide to what Gateway coordinates. It is not exhaustive. If a patient has a wound that does not fit a category, send the request anyway, and the treating clinician will determine what is appropriate.

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

See every wound condition and all wound care services.

After a hospital or rehab stay

Alton has two hospitals of its own, Alton Memorial Hospital and OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center, and many local hospital stays happen at one or the other. Gateway is not affiliated with either. When someone comes home with a wound that needs follow-up or a changed list of medications, the family can call us to ask about visits. Hospital discharge planners and social workers can refer by phone or by fax at 314-786-7966. We gather the discharge records, coordinate with a partner clinician and keep the patient’s regular doctor informed.

Nearby hospitals, skilled nursing and assisted living

People in Alton often know these places by name. The list is drawn from public directories so you can get your bearings.

• 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); Eden Village Care Center (Glen Carbon 62034)

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 Alton

A wound is rarely only a skin problem. Blood sugar, circulation, swelling in the legs, nutrition and how much a person can move all affect how it heals, and those are primary care matters. That is why Gateway arranges primary care and wound care together for people in Alton who want it. The wound clinician looks after the wound. A primary care clinician looks at the conditions underneath it. Gateway passes notes between the two, so the plans do not pull against each other.

Primary care at home in Alton →

Getting care in Alton

When you call about care in Alton, mention right away that the address is in Illinois, and have the 62002 ZIP code, a phone number, the regular doctor and the insurance card on hand. Insurance plans and provider participation can differ on each side of the state line, so we check before scheduling. Availability is confirmed by location and care setting. Gateway also arranges care in Godfrey, the rest of the Riverbend, Edwardsville and 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.

After you call 314-325-0126, three things happen before anyone visits.

1. Gateway confirms whether a partner clinician covers the address in Alton and the type of setting.
2. We ask about insurance and pass coverage questions to the treating provider, since participation and benefits vary by plan.
3. With your permission, we request recent records, such as hospital notes, wound orders and a medication list.

Then we call you to set the visit and explain how to prepare for the first visit. If something holds things up, such as a missing record or a plan requirement, we tell you what it is.

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

Nearby: Godfrey, Illinois, Alton and the Riverbend, Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois

Paying for care

People with Original Medicare can ask Gateway what to expect before a wound care visit at home or in a facility. Have your red, white and blue card and any supplement (Medigap) card with you on the call. Good questions to ask about Medicare include:

• Does the treating provider participate with Medicare?
• What part of the cost might be my responsibility?
• Are dressings and supplies handled separately from the visit?

The answers depend on the provider and the care ordered, so they are confirmed case by case.

Common questions