Why primary care at home matters in Granite City

Granite City faces St. Louis across the river, and some residents see doctors on the Missouri side. Crossing a bridge for a routine check is manageable when you are well and driving. It is much harder with a walker, an oxygen tank or a wound on your foot. Gateway arranges in-home primary care follow-up with partner clinicians so ongoing conditions and medications are reviewed at home. The treating clinician decides what is needed, and we coordinate records with the patient’s other doctors on both sides of the river.

Much of Granite City is made up of modest frame and brick houses on small lots, some with steps up to the front door. Apartments, senior housing, assisted living, and skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities are found in the area too. Gateway arranges visits in all of these settings with partner clinicians. If steps, a narrow doorway or a second-floor unit make leaving home hard, say so when you call, because that is the situation home visits are meant for. In facilities, we coordinate with staff about the visit time, the resident’s chart and current orders.

This page is part of Gateway's guide to primary care in St. Louis, which covers house calls, wellness visits and chronic care across the region.

What a visit can cover

A good share of primary care happens after the clinician leaves. A blood test has to be drawn, an imaging appointment booked, a specialist’s report sent back and read. When the treating clinician writes an order, Gateway follows it through and keeps the results moving to the people who need them. Depending on where you live, some tests can be arranged at home. Others mean a trip, and we can help with lab and imaging coordination and transportation arrangements.

The visits themselves cover what you would expect from a primary care office: long-term conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, a full medication review, follow-up after a hospital stay and a yearly wellness visit.

People who benefit most

Families are often the first to see that office visits have stopped working. A parent in Granite City cancels appointments because the trip is too much. Refills are handled by phone for a year without an exam. A hospital stay ends and no one follows up. These are common reasons people call Gateway about primary care at home.

The person may be mostly housebound, may be recovering from surgery or a wound, may live in assisted living, or may have no regular clinician at all. A son, daughter, spouse or neighbor can make the call. Our caregiver support page covers what families can ask for.

Why wound care and primary care go together

Healing takes building material. A body that is short on protein, calories or fluids has less to work with, and appetite often drops during illness and recovery. In primary care follow-up, the treating clinician can ask about eating and weight change, look for causes such as dental pain, trouble swallowing, low mood or medication side effects, and order lab tests or a dietitian referral if needed. See nutrition and healing.

What the wound care clinician sees helps here. A wound that stops improving, or weight loss noticed at a wound visit, is shared with the primary care clinician so the question is asked early.

Wound care in Granite City →

Care settings in Granite City

Apartment living adds a few practical details to a home visit. When you call about primary care in Granite City, tell us about the building: a buzzer or door code, a front desk, where visitors can park, whether there is an elevator. In a senior apartment building, let us know if a service coordinator or building nurse should be told about the visit.

The same arrangements apply in single-family homes, condos and a relative’s house where you are staying for a while. For residents of assisted living, memory care or a skilled nursing facility, we coordinate the visit time with the staff there.

Working with your existing doctors

Home health and primary care are different jobs that depend on each other. A home health agency sends nurses and therapists, and they work from a clinician’s signed orders. The primary care clinician writes and updates those orders and decides what to do when the nurse reports a change. Without a clinician they can reach, home health staff are left waiting for answers. When Gateway coordinates primary care for someone who has home health, we tell the agency which practice is responsible, where to send reports and whom to call with a concern.

How to start

There are two ways to start in Granite City. 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.

Insurance and coverage

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

Will Medicare or my insurance pay for primary care at home in Granite City?

We cannot answer that in general, because it depends on the treating practice, your specific plan and the care you need. When you call, ask which practice would see you. Then call the number on your Medicare or insurance card and ask whether that practice participates in your plan and what you would owe for a visit at home.

Is a video visit an option for primary care in Granite City?

It can be, for some needs. A video or phone visit may work for going over test results, checking on a medication change or talking through a plan. It cannot replace an exam when the clinician needs to listen to your heart and lungs or look at your legs. The treating practice decides when telehealth is suitable. See telehealth primary care visits.

Will the clinician fill out forms for a patient in Granite City, such as facility or equipment paperwork?

Often, but it is the clinician’s call. Forms for assisted living admission, medical equipment, a disabled parking placard or a caregiver’s leave from work usually require that the clinician has examined the patient and knows the history. Mention forms when you first call and have them ready at the visit. Gateway tracks the paperwork and helps get signed copies where they need to go.

Do I need a referral for primary care at home in Granite City?

No referral is needed to call Gateway. Patients, family members and caregivers can contact us directly, and so can hospitals, facilities and physician offices. Your health plan is a separate matter. Some plans ask for a referral or an authorization before certain services, and that depends on the plan and the treating practice. We go over what to check before a visit is scheduled.

Can blood pressure or blood sugar be tracked between home visits in Granite City?

Sometimes. If the treating clinician decides it would help, a program called remote patient monitoring uses devices such as a blood pressure cuff or a scale that send readings from your home to the practice. Whether it is offered depends on the practice, your plan and your condition. A written log you keep yourself is also worth showing at each visit. See remote patient monitoring.

Related pages

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.