Wound care at home in The Hill
The Hill is a compact St. Louis neighborhood south of Forest Park, known across the region for its Italian-American heritage. Its tidy blocks are tucked between Kingshighway and Hampton Avenue, with Macklind Avenue and Shaw Avenue crossing the heart of it. A parish church anchors the streets, and Italian bakeries and grocers bring visitors in from all over. Many families have lived here for generations, often on the same block. When health gets harder, care at home lets older neighbors stay put.
The Hill is known for small brick houses on narrow lots, many built close together with a short front walk, a few steps and a tiny yard. Shotgun-style homes and one-story bungalows are common, along with some two-family flats. Often an older parent lives in the house while an adult child lives a few blocks away. Gateway arranges partner clinician visits in these homes, in nearby apartments and in care facilities, so family can be present without driving anywhere.
Gateway arranges the same kind of visit across the region. Read more about 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 The Hill and nearby communities.
How wound care at home works in The Hill
If a home health nurse already comes to your home in The Hill, 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.
Wound care in facilities in The Hill
Rehabilitation stays are short and busy, and a wound can get lost between therapy sessions. For patients in rehabilitation centers in The Hill, Gateway arranges wound visits around the therapy schedule, so the clinician can see the wound without costing the patient a session. The other priority is the next move. Before discharge, we ask where the patient is going, who will do dressing changes there and whether supplies and orders are in place. If follow-up at home or in a long-term care setting is wanted, it can be requested before the patient leaves, so the plan started in rehab continues with the same information.
Wounds you can call about
You do not need to know the name of a wound to ask for help. If a sore on a leg, foot, heel or tailbone is not closing, or a surgical incision has opened, that is enough reason to call. For reference, these are the kinds of wounds Gateway arranges care for in The Hill.
- 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
People from The Hill 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 independent and is not affiliated with any of them. A hospital case manager can fax a referral, or a relative can call once the patient is home. We ask for the discharge summary and wound orders, confirm who helps at home, and check availability with a partner clinician for the address.
Facilities near The Hill
People in The Hill often know these places by name. The list is drawn from public directories so you can 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); Beauvais Rehab and Healthcare Center (St. Louis 63110); Lansdowne Village (St. Louis 63116); Carrie Elligson Gietner Health Care Center (St. Louis 63111)
- 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.
Primary care at home in The Hill
Families and facility staff in The Hill 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.
Gateway also arranges primary care at home across St. Louis.
Getting care in The Hill
For a visit on The Hill, tell us the cross streets as well as the house number, since several blocks look alike. Mention steps, a front or side door and whether a dog or a screen door will be in the way. Have a phone number that someone will answer, the regular doctor’s name and any recent hospital dates. When you call 314-325-0126, it helps if a family member can be home at the time. We also arrange care in Dogtown, Shaw and Tower Grove.
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 The Hill:
- 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: 63110, 63139
- Care settings: Private homes, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation
Nearby: Dogtown, Shaw, St. Louis Hills, South St. Louis, Tower Grove
Insurance and coverage
Whether a visit is a covered benefit is the first thing most people ask, and the fair answer is that it depends. Three things decide it: the treating provider, your plan and the care that is needed. Gateway can take questions about coverage for Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and commercial insurance, and we work with the treating provider’s office to check participation and benefits before a visit is scheduled. We tell you what we learn and what is still unknown, instead of guessing.
Common questions
My parents have lived on The Hill for decades in a small brick house. Can wound care really be done at home?
In many cases, yes. Visits are arranged in private homes of all sizes. A small house works well as long as the clinician has a clean, well-lit place to work and the patient can be comfortable. The treating clinician decides the care plan after seeing the patient, and Gateway coordinates supplies and records.
Several relatives live near each other on The Hill. Who should call Gateway?
Anyone close to the patient can call, including a daughter, a neighbor or a spouse. Name one person as the main contact so messages do not get crossed. We share updates with family only as the patient allows. Please give us the patient’s address and the best phone number to reach someone at the house.
Does Gateway coordinate with the patient’s regular doctor on The Hill?
Yes. Tell us the regular doctor and the pharmacy when you call 314-325-0126. Gateway coordinates records and shares the treating clinician’s visit notes and orders with the care team, with the patient’s permission. The regular doctor stays involved. Gateway arranges the visit, but it does not replace a doctor the family trusts.
Are visits arranged in the evening or on weekends on The Hill?
Visit availability depends on the partner clinician, the location and the care setting, so we cannot promise a time. Tell us what days the patient is home and when a relative can be present. Gateway confirms the visit once a clinician is identified for the address, and will contact you if the plan changes.
How do wound dressings and supplies get to a patient in The Hill?
The treating clinician orders what the wound plan calls for, and the order goes to a medical supplier that ships to the address in The Hill. In a nursing facility, supplies often come through the facility instead. Gateway tracks the order and checks on it if a delivery is late or the wrong item arrives. Whether supplies are covered, and in what quantity, is decided by the patient’s plan, so ask us to confirm before you count on it.
Who do we call with a question between wound visits in The Hill?
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 The Hill, call Gateway at 314-325-0126. If a home health nurse is involved, the agency has its own line. Keep all three numbers together.
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.