Wound care at home in South St. Louis

South St. Louis means the city neighborhoods generally along and south of Interstate 44: Tower Grove, Dutchtown, Carondelet, The Hill, Soulard, St. Louis Hills and many more, each with its own corner shops, churches and parks. Grand Boulevard, Gravois Avenue, Kingshighway and Hampton Avenue carry the traffic, and Tower Grove Park and Carondelet Park anchor the map. People here are loyal to their blocks. An older resident may have lived within a mile of the same parish all their life, and care at home lets that continue when getting out becomes difficult.

Brick defines the south side. There are bungalows and gingerbread-style houses in St. Louis Hills, narrow shotgun homes on The Hill, row houses in Soulard, and two-family and four-family flats nearly everywhere. Front steps are steep, gangways are narrow and parking is on the street. Senior apartment buildings, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities are spread through the neighborhoods as well. Gateway arranges partner clinician visits in each setting. Tell us if the patient lives in an upstairs flat or needs help getting to the door, so the visit is planned with that in mind.

For an overview of how home visits work across the region, see mobile wound care in St. Louis.

Gateway arranges wound care in St. Louis across the city, the county and the Metro East, and South St. Louis is part of that area.

Living and getting care in South St. Louis

South St. Louis is less a single neighborhood than a collection of them, and care that works in one may need adjusting in another. Tower Grove is known for its park and the blocks of brick houses around it. Bevo Mill sits along Gravois Avenue, and Carondelet sits near the Mississippi River on the far south side. Benton Park and Soulard lie closer to downtown, with older row houses and corner buildings, and St. Louis Hills sits in the southwest corner, with bungalows on quiet, tidy blocks.

Brick is the common thread. Whether it is a one-story bungalow, a two-family flat or a row house, the typical south side home has a masonry front, a few steps up to the door and a basement. Older buildings often have narrow staircases and small bathrooms, which matters when a patient is using a walker or has a wound on the foot or leg. Tell us how the patient moves around the home and where they spend most of the day, so the treating clinician can plan the visit.

Getting around the south side is mostly a matter of knowing the main streets. Gravois Avenue cuts diagonally through the area, Grand Boulevard runs north to south, and Chippewa Street and Kingshighway are busy crossings. Interstates 44 and 55 frame the area and make it easy to reach other parts of Greater St. Louis. Side streets are often one-way or lined with parked cars, so a visit window is more realistic than an exact arrival time.

Because these neighborhoods differ so much, we ask for the street address and the cross street instead of only a neighborhood name. A family that has just moved a parent from one part of the south side to another can tell us both addresses, so records and follow-up go to the right place. Call 314-325-0126 with whatever you know, and we will help sort out what to confirm for that location.

Towns and communities in South St. Louis

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

Home visits in South St. Louis

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 South St. Louis, 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.

Wound care in facilities in South St. Louis

Assisted living is not a nursing home, and that matters for wounds. Assisted living communities in South St. Louis 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.

Wounds you can call about

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 South St. Louis for the conditions below.

See every wound condition and all wound care services.

After a hospital or rehab stay

South St. Louis patients are discharged from several hospitals, most often SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond Heights and Mercy Hospital South. Gateway is an independent company and is not affiliated with any of them. Hospital social workers and case managers can refer a patient going home to the south side by phone or fax. Family members can call as well. We ask for the discharge summary and current wound orders, find out who helps the patient at home, and confirm a partner clinician’s availability for that neighborhood.

Hospitals and senior care near South St. Louis

Nearby facilities for South St. Louis, taken from public directories, are listed here as a reference.

  • Hospitals nearby: SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital; Barnes-Jewish Hospital; SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond Heights; Mercy Hospital South
  • Skilled nursing and rehabilitation nearby: Lansdowne Village (St. Louis 63116); Oak Park Care Center (St. Louis 63139); Carrie Elligson Gietner Health Care Center (St. Louis 63111); Magnolia Wellness Center (St. Louis 63118)
  • Assisted living and memory care nearby: Silver Spur (St. Louis 63118); St. Louis Hills Assisted Living and Memory Care (St. Louis 63109); Chateau Ann Marie (St. Louis 63111)

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

People with long-standing wounds often take many medications ordered by several different offices. Some medicines can affect healing, swelling or the risk of falls, and it may be that no one is looking at the full list. When Gateway arranges primary care follow-up in South St. Louis, a medication review by the treating clinician is a typical part of it. Do not stop or change anything on your own. Keep an up-to-date list, including over-the-counter products, and have it out at every visit.

Primary care at home in South St. Louis →

Getting care in South St. Louis

When you call, name the neighborhood as well as the address, since South St. Louis covers a lot of ground and several ZIP codes. Tell us about stairs, a locked gate or a doorbell that does not work, and give a phone number that will be answered. Gateway also arranges care in Downtown St. Louis, the Central West End and the rest of the city, and in nearby Affton, Shrewsbury and Maplewood. Street parking and one-way blocks are part of visiting here, and visit days are confirmed by location.

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

Have a few things within reach before you call 314-325-0126 about wound care in South St. Louis:

  • 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: City of St. Louis, Missouri (an independent city)
  • ZIP codes: 63104, 63109, 63111, 63116, 63118, 63139
  • Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation

Nearby: St. Louis City, Downtown St. Louis, Affton, Shrewsbury, Maplewood

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

Which South St. Louis neighborhoods does Gateway arrange care in?

Gateway arranges wound care and primary care across South St. Louis, including Tower Grove, Dutchtown, Carondelet, The Hill, Soulard and St. Louis Hills, and neighboring areas in ZIP codes 63104, 63109, 63111, 63116, 63118 and 63139. If your neighborhood is not named here, call 314-325-0126 with the address. Availability is confirmed for each location and care setting.

My aunt lives in an upstairs flat in South St. Louis and rarely goes out. Can she be seen at home?

Yes. Upstairs flats are common in South St. Louis, and visits can be arranged there. Tell us which door and stairway lead to her unit and whether she can let someone in. If she is hard of hearing or does not answer unfamiliar callers, give us a relative’s number too. The treating clinician decides what care she needs after seeing her.

Parking is tight on my block in South St. Louis. Is that a problem for a home visit?

It should not be. Clinicians who make visits in South St. Louis are used to street parking, alleys and one-way blocks. It helps to tell us about permit-only parking, a rear entrance or the easiest side of the street to stop on. If a visit ever has to be moved, the partner clinician’s office or Gateway will contact you to set another day.

Does Gateway help with dressing supplies for patients in South St. Louis?

When the treating clinician orders dressings or other supplies, Gateway coordinates getting them to the patient’s home or facility in South St. Louis. Which supplies are ordered is a clinical decision, and whether a plan pays for them depends on the plan, the treating provider and the care needed. Tell us if supplies from the hospital are running low so the clinician’s office knows before the visit.

Who do we call with a question between wound visits in South St. Louis?

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 South St. Louis, call Gateway at 314-325-0126. If a home health nurse is involved, the agency has its own line. Keep all three numbers together.

What records does Gateway need for a patient in South St. Louis?

The treating clinician can start with very little, but a few records make the first visit more useful: recent hospital or clinic notes about the wound, current wound orders, a medication list, recent lab results and the names of the clinicians involved. You do not have to collect these yourself. With the patient’s permission, Gateway requests them from the offices and facilities that have them, in South St. Louis or elsewhere.

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.