Wound care at home in Dogtown
Dogtown is a small, close-knit neighborhood just south of Forest Park and Interstate 64. Clayton Avenue and Tamm Avenue run through its center. Its Irish heritage is still plain to see, and the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade is a neighborhood tradition. Many residents have known their neighbors for years, and relatives often live nearby. For a person with a slow-healing wound, care at home means the community stays close.
Homes in Dogtown are mostly modest brick houses, small bungalows and two-family flats on tight lots, often with a short front walk and a few steps up to the door. Some blocks sit on a hill, and older houses can have basements and narrow back stairs. There are also apartment buildings at the edges of the neighborhood. Gateway arranges partner clinician visits in all of these homes and in nearby senior living, so a patient is seen where they feel at ease.
For an overview of how home visits work across the region, see mobile wound care in St. Louis.
To compare options before you call, read our guide to St. Louis wound care, which covers clinics, home visits and facility care for Dogtown 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 Dogtown, 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.
For residents of senior living and nursing facilities
A person living with dementia may not be able to say that a heel hurts or that a dressing feels wrong, and may pull a bandage off without knowing why it is there. In memory care communities in Dogtown, the wound plan has to account for that. The treating clinician relies on what staff and family have noticed, such as changes in walking, sleep, appetite or mood, as well as on what the skin shows. Visits for wound care in memory care are planned for the resident’s own room, with a familiar caregiver present when possible. Gateway shares the plan with care staff and family so everyone watches for the same changes.
Wound conditions we help with in Dogtown
Different wounds call for different plans. A leg ulcer caused by vein problems is managed differently from a pressure injury or a diabetic foot ulcer, which is why the type of wound matters so much. Gateway helps arrange care in Dogtown for the conditions below.
- Diabetic foot ulcers
- Venous leg ulcers
- Pressure injuries and bed sores
- Arterial and mixed wounds
- Non-healing wounds
- Post-surgical wounds
- Reopened (dehisced) surgical wounds
- Surgical site infections
- Skin tears and traumatic wounds
- Wounds with lymphedema
- Skin graft aftercare
- Wound VAC (NPWT) follow-up
See every wound condition and all wound care services.
Coming home from the hospital
Dogtown patients are commonly discharged from Barnes-Jewish Hospital, SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond Heights or SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. Gateway is not affiliated with these hospitals. A discharge planner can send a referral, or you can call. We ask for the discharge summary and wound orders, find out who will help at home, and confirm availability with a partner clinician for the Dogtown address.
Nearby hospitals, skilled nursing and assisted living
These facilities are in or near Dogtown. They come from public directories and are listed only to help you get your bearings.
- Hospitals nearby: Barnes-Jewish Hospital; SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond Heights; SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital
- Skilled nursing and rehabilitation nearby: Oak Park Care Center (St. Louis 63139); Bernard Care Center (St. Louis 63108); Beauvais Rehab and Healthcare Center (St. Louis 63110)
- Assisted living and memory care nearby: St. Elizabeth Hall (St. Louis 63108); St. Louis Hills Assisted Living and Memory Care (St. Louis 63109); Trustwell Living at Richmond Heights (Richmond Heights 63117)
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) and the Missouri DHSS long-term care directory.
Primary care at home in Dogtown
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 Dogtown 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.
Gateway also arranges primary care at home across St. Louis.
Getting care in Dogtown
Dogtown blocks can look alike, so give us the cross streets along with the house number. Tell us if the entrance is at the front or the side, and whether there are steps or a gate. Street parking is usual. When you call 314-325-0126, have the patient’s name, a phone number, the regular doctor and any hospital dates ready. Visits also happen in nearby The Hill, Maplewood and Richmond Heights, so relatives in two neighborhoods can ask in one call.
Visits are confirmed by location and care setting, so call 314-325-0126 with your ZIP code to ask about your street.
Not sure the wound is serious enough to call about? Call anyway. A sore that has not improved in a few weeks, a surgical incision that has opened or a dressing routine that has become too much for the family are all reasonable grounds to ask. Reach Gateway at 314-325-0126 or at [email protected] (save medical details for the phone call). We will ask about the patient’s location in Dogtown, explain how visits with partner clinicians are arranged and tell you plainly if what you need is something we cannot set up.
- County: City of St. Louis, Missouri (an independent city)
- ZIP codes: 63139
- Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation
Nearby: The Hill, Central West End, St. Louis Hills, Richmond Heights, Maplewood
Coverage questions
Employer and individual health plans vary widely, so the most reliable source is the member services number on the back of your card. Useful things to ask the plan: whether visits at home are a benefit, whether a referral or prior authorization is required, and where your deductible stands this year. Share what you learn with Gateway. We pass plan details to the treating provider’s office, which checks its own participation. Coverage under a commercial plan is never something we can promise.
Common questions
Do hospitals near Forest Park send Dogtown patients home with wound care instructions?
Often, yes. Discharge papers usually include wound orders, supply lists and follow-up notes. Keep them where a caregiver can find them. When you call Gateway at 314-325-0126, we ask for the paperwork so a partner clinician knows the plan. The treating clinician decides whether to keep or change the orders after assessing the wound.
My grandfather lives in a basement-level apartment in Dogtown. Can he be seen there?
Yes, you can ask. Tell us how a visitor reaches his door, whether by outside stairs, a side entrance or a hallway. It also helps to know whether the space has good light and a place to sit. The treating clinician decides what care he needs, and Gateway coordinates supplies and records afterward.
Can a friend or neighbor call Gateway for someone in Dogtown?
Yes. Anyone who knows the patient can start the call. For a first visit, we will want the patient’s consent and a way to reach them, so please give us a phone number that will be answered. Medical details are shared only with people the patient allows. Please do not put medical details in the web form.
How does Gateway handle the St. Patrick’s Day parade weekend in Dogtown?
Road closures and crowds can slow any trip, so we cannot promise a time for a visit that day. Tell us what streets are affected and the best way to reach the house. Gateway confirms visit days by location and may suggest another day if access is limited. Ask when you call 314-325-0126.
Does Gateway have a wound clinic I can visit in Dogtown?
No. Gateway does not run a clinic, and our administrative office in Chesterfield, Missouri does not see patients. Care is arranged where it is needed: at home, in a skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care or rehabilitation setting, or in an outpatient or office setting with a clinical partner. To find out which of those options applies to an address in Dogtown, call 314-325-0126.
Is primary care at home available along with wound care in Dogtown?
It can be requested in the same call. Gateway arranges in-home primary care with partner clinicians for people who have trouble getting to an office, which is often the case for someone with a wound. Tell us whether the patient in Dogtown has a primary care clinician now. If so, we keep that office informed. If not, we look into what can be arranged for their address and plan.
General information to help you talk with your own clinician. It is not medical advice, and the treating clinician makes every clinical decision. For a medical emergency, call 911.