About mobile wound care in Jefferson County

South of the Meramec River, St. Louis County gives way to Jefferson County, a wide stretch of hills, creek valleys and growing towns. Interstate 55 lines the east side through Arnold, Imperial, Barnhart and on to Festus and Crystal City. Route 30 serves High Ridge and House Springs in the north, and Route 21 heads down to Hillsboro, the county seat, and De Soto. Much of the county is rural once you leave those corridors. Home and facility visits matter here because the alternative is often a long drive on winding roads for every appointment.

Jefferson County has subdivisions and apartments in Arnold and Imperial, older homes in the river towns, manufactured homes, lake communities, and houses on acreage reached by gravel roads. Skilled nursing, rehabilitation and assisted living facilities are found mainly in the larger towns. Gateway arranges partner clinician visits in private homes and in facilities throughout the county. For homes, we collect directions and access notes. For facilities, we work with the nursing team so that wound orders, supply deliveries and visit days are understood by every shift.

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 Jefferson County and nearby communities.

Towns and communities in Jefferson County

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

How wound care at home works in Jefferson County

If a home health nurse already comes to your home in Jefferson County, 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 Jefferson County, 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.

Wounds you can call about

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 Jefferson County arrange care for, from pressure injuries to wounds that follow surgery.

See every wound condition and all wound care services.

After a hospital or rehab stay

Where a Jefferson County resident is hospitalized usually depends on where they live. In the south and center it tends to be Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Festus. In the north, many go to Mercy Hospital South or SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton, both just over the county line. Gateway is not affiliated with these hospitals. A discharge planner at any of them can fax a referral, and families can call us. We request records, confirm the patient’s Jefferson County address and care setting, and arrange a follow-up visit with a treating clinician.

Nearby hospitals, skilled nursing and assisted living

These facilities are in or near Jefferson County. They come from public directories and are listed only to help you get your bearings.

  • Hospitals nearby: Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Festus; Mercy Hospital South; SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton
  • Skilled nursing and rehabilitation nearby: Woodland Manor Nursing Center (Arnold 63010); Crystal Oaks (Festus 63028); South County Health Care Center (Arnold 63010); Hillcrest Care Center (De Soto 63020)
  • Assisted living and memory care nearby: Meadowview Memory Care (Arnold 63010); Pine Valley at the Woodlands (Arnold 63010); Cedarhurst of Arnold (Arnold 63010)

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 alongside wound care

Families and facility staff in Jefferson County 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 Jefferson County →

Getting care in Jefferson County

When you call about care in Jefferson County, tell us the town and ZIP code first, since Arnold (63010) and De Soto (63020) are very different drives. Then give the street address, turn-by-turn directions if the home is rural, and a phone number that gets a signal there. Mention steep or unpaved driveways. Visits are planned by area, and Gateway arranges care in Arnold, Imperial, Festus and Crystal City as well as neighboring Fenton and Oakville. Bad weather on hill roads can occasionally move a visit, and we will call if it does.

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

Have a few things within reach before you call 314-325-0126 about wound care in Jefferson County:

  • the address where visits would take place, and the facility name if there is one
  • the insurance cards
  • the names of the primary care clinician and any surgeon or specialist involved
  • a medication list
  • discharge papers or wound instructions from a recent hospital or clinic visit

Missing some of these is fine. Once you give permission, we can request records from other offices. The call itself is a conversation about what is going on and what you are hoping to arrange.

  • County: Jefferson County, Missouri
  • ZIP codes: 63010, 63028, 63019, 63052, 63012, 63050, 63020, 63049, 63051
  • Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation

Nearby: Arnold, Festus and Crystal City, Imperial, Fenton, Oakville

Insurance and coverage

Medicaid questions need a little extra detail because the region spans two states. Missouri’s program (MO HealthNet) and Illinois Medicaid are separate, each with its own plans and rules, and coverage from one state generally does not carry over to the other. Tell us which state issued the coverage, the plan name on the card and whether the patient also has Medicare. The treating provider’s participation and the benefits for the care needed are then checked for that specific plan. Our guide to Medicaid and wound care lists what to ask. Gateway does not decide coverage.

Common questions

Does Gateway arrange care in all of Jefferson County or only the northern part near St. Louis County?

You can request care anywhere in Jefferson County, including Arnold, Imperial, Barnhart, Festus, Crystal City, Hillsboro, De Soto, High Ridge and House Springs. Availability is not identical everywhere. Homes in the southern and western parts of the county, farther from the metro area, may have fewer scheduling options. We confirm what is possible for your address and care setting when you call.

How do hills, gravel roads and winter weather affect home visits in Jefferson County?

They are part of planning here. Tell us if your road is steep, unpaved or hard to pass after rain or snow, and whether there is a place to turn around. In bad weather a visit may need to be moved for safety, and we will contact you to reschedule. Ask the treating clinician what to watch for and what to do if a visit is delayed.

Does it matter which hospital a Jefferson County patient is discharged from?

Not for requesting follow-up. Whether the stay was at Mercy Hospital Jefferson, Mercy Hospital South, SSM Health St. Clare Hospital or a hospital farther away, Gateway asks for the discharge records and wound orders in the same way. Gateway is independent of all of them. What matters more is the address the patient is returning to in Jefferson County and whether that is a home or a facility.

Can the clinician Gateway arranges work with a home health agency already visiting in Jefferson County?

Yes. Some patients already have a home health nurse or therapist coming to the house. Let us know the agency’s name. The treating clinician can write wound orders that the home health nurse follows between visits, and Gateway helps keep both sides informed about changes. The same applies in a facility, where the clinician works alongside the staff nurses and the attending physician.

Does the patient have to be homebound to get wound care at home in Jefferson County?

Not necessarily. “Homebound” is a term health plans use mainly for home health agency services. A visit from a treating clinician is a different service, and whether it fits depends on the patient’s condition, the plan and the provider. If leaving home is difficult, painful or unsafe, tell us what makes it so. Gateway passes that to the treating provider, who confirms what applies for an address in Jefferson County.

Does Gateway arrange wound care in nursing homes and assisted living in Jefferson County?

Yes. Gateway coordinates visits by partner clinicians to residents of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation centers in Jefferson County. The clinician works with the facility’s nurses, who carry out daily treatments, and with the resident’s attending physician. A family member, the resident or facility staff can make the request. We check with the facility about its process for outside clinicians before a visit is set.

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.