Mobile wound care close to home in Kirkwood

Kirkwood is an established St. Louis County suburb that grew up along Kirkwood Road (the local name for Lindbergh Boulevard) south of Manchester Road. Interstate 44 crosses the south side and Interstate 270 is a short drive west. The city has a walkable downtown near the train station and block after block of older homes under mature trees. Many people here have lived in the same house for decades and intend to stay. When a wound or a long-term health problem makes trips out harder, care arranged at home or in a nearby facility helps them do that.

Housing in Kirkwood covers a wide range. There are century-old frame houses with deep front porches, brick bungalows, mid-century ranch homes, and condominiums and apartments close to downtown. The city also has senior apartments, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing communities. Gateway arranges visits by partner clinicians in each of these settings. For a private home, we confirm the address, the entry steps and who will be there. For a facility resident, we coordinate with the nursing staff so the treating clinician’s orders and visit notes reach the people providing daily care.

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

For people in Kirkwood weighing a clinic against home visits, the St. Louis wound care guide explains how each works.

How wound care at home works in Kirkwood

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 Kirkwood, 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

Assisted living is not a nursing home, and that matters for wounds. Assisted living communities in Kirkwood differ in how much nursing they have on site and in what their staff are permitted to do, so the first question is who will change the dressing between clinician visits. Sometimes it is the community’s nurse. Often it is a home health nurse who comes in, and sometimes a family member. For wound care in assisted living, Gateway arranges for a partner clinician to see the resident in their own apartment. We then make sure the orders reach whoever does the daily care and that staff know what to watch for and whom to call.

Types of wounds

Referring offices, home health agencies and facilities in Kirkwood 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.

See every wound condition and all wound care services.

After a hospital or rehab stay

People in Kirkwood are often discharged from St. Luke’s Des Peres Hospital, Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country, Mercy Hospital South or SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton. Gateway is not affiliated with these hospitals. If you are going home with a wound, a family member can call us before or after discharge to ask about follow-up. Discharge planners and case managers can send a referral by phone or fax with the discharge summary and current wound orders. We then confirm visit availability with a partner clinician for the Kirkwood address or facility.

Facilities near Kirkwood

Nearby facilities for Kirkwood, taken from public directories, are listed here as a reference.

  • Hospitals nearby: St. Luke's Des Peres Hospital; Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country; Mercy Hospital South; SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton
  • Skilled nursing and rehabilitation nearby: Kirkwood Wellness & Rehabilitation (Kirkwood 63122); Aberdeen Heights (Kirkwood 63122); Bethesda Dilworth (St. Louis 63122); Big Bend Woods Healthcare Center (Valley Park 63088)
  • Assisted living and memory care nearby: Dougherty Ferry Assisted Living & Memory Care (St. Louis 63122); Bethesda Hawthorne Place (St. Louis 63122); Friendship Village Assisted Living & Memory Care (Sunset Hills 63127)

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.

Looking after the whole patient

Already have a primary care doctor you like? Keep them. Wound care arranged through Gateway in Kirkwood does not replace your regular office. With your permission, we send the wound clinician’s visit notes and any order changes to that office and ask it for your recent labs and history. If you have no primary care clinician, or can no longer get to the one you have, tell us when you call. Arranging primary care at home is something we can look into for you.

Primary care at home in Kirkwood →

Getting care in Kirkwood

Before you call 314-325-0126, it helps to have the patient’s name, the Kirkwood address or facility name, a phone number and the name of the regular doctor. If there was a recent hospital or rehab stay, tell us where it was and when it ended. Gateway also arranges care in nearby Webster Groves, Des Peres, Crestwood, Sunset Hills, Manchester and Valley Park, so relatives in two nearby towns can be discussed in one call. Visit days are confirmed for each address once a partner clinician is identified.

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

Getting started in Kirkwood takes one call.

  1. Call Gateway at 314-325-0126, or have a family member or caregiver call for you.
  2. Tell us where the person lives (home or facility), a little about the wound and who is treating it now.
  3. We confirm whether a partner clinician is available for that location and go over your coverage questions.
  4. We gather records and set up the first visit.

You do not need a referral to make the call. From the first visit on, the treating clinician makes the clinical decisions.

  • County: St. Louis County, Missouri
  • ZIP codes: 63122
  • Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation

Nearby: Webster Groves, Des Peres, Crestwood, Sunset Hills, Manchester

Coverage questions

Medicare Advantage plans work differently from Original Medicare. Each plan has its own provider network, its own copays and often its own prior authorization rules for visits, supplies or home health, so there are questions to ask a Medicare Advantage plan before care starts. Two neighbors with cards from the same insurer can have different benefits. When you call, tell us the exact plan name on the member ID card. Gateway and the treating provider’s office check whether the provider participates with that plan and whether anything needs approval first. Until then, nobody can say what the plan will pay.

Common questions

Does Gateway have a clinic or office in Kirkwood?

No. Gateway does not operate a clinic in Kirkwood, and its administrative office in Chesterfield does not see patients. Care is delivered where the patient is, in a Kirkwood home or facility, or in an outpatient setting with a clinical partner when the treating clinician recommends one. To ask what is available for a specific address, call 314-325-0126.

My father is coming home to Kirkwood from St. Luke’s Des Peres Hospital. When should we call?

You can call as soon as you know the discharge plan, or after he is home. Tell us the hospital, the expected discharge date and his Kirkwood address. Gateway is not part of the hospital, so we will ask for the discharge paperwork and current wound orders. A partner clinician’s availability is then confirmed for his location. If something seems urgent, call his doctor, or 911 in an emergency.

Can Gateway arrange visits for a resident of an assisted living community in Kirkwood?

Yes, you can ask. Gateway arranges wound care and primary care visits by partner clinicians in assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing settings in Kirkwood. The resident, a family member or the facility’s nurse can make the request. We coordinate with facility staff so that the treating clinician’s orders and visit notes reach the people who help with daily care.

Are stairs in the older homes in Kirkwood a problem for home visits?

Usually not. Many houses in Kirkwood have porch steps, narrow doorways or bedrooms upstairs. When you call, tell us where the patient spends most of the day and whether they can get to a first-floor room. That helps the treating clinician plan the visit. If equipment or supplies are ordered, Gateway coordinates getting them to the home.

Who do we call with a question between wound visits in Kirkwood?

It depends on the question. For anything about the wound itself, such as a change in how it looks or a dressing that is not working, call the treating clinician’s office, and ask for that number at the first visit. For scheduling, supplies or records for a patient in Kirkwood, call Gateway at 314-325-0126. If a home health nurse is involved, the agency has its own line. Keep all three numbers together.

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

Yes. Gateway coordinates visits by partner clinicians to residents of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation centers in Kirkwood. 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.