“There’s no place like home.”

Movie goers worldwide know this famous phrase from “The Wizard of Oz.” Despite the wonders of Oz, Dorothy clicks the heels of her ruby slippers and repeats these words again and again, the spell that will send her back to Auntie Em. She longs to go back to Kansas because there’s no place like home.

When you are sick, where would you rather be treated? Odds are most of us would prefer the security and comfort of our own bed in our own home rather than a hospital or nursing home. Millions of people feel that way. But they don’t need ruby slippers to send them back home. They just need a helping hand, and that’s where home care comes in.

This is why WVUH-East Home Health Care joins the National Association for Home Care & Hospice in celebrating November as National Home Care Month. Home care keeps patients safe and healthy in their homes. It preserves their dignity, protects their independence, and provides them with peace of mind

More than just providing excellent care where and when patients need and want it, home care saves the United States and commercial health insurers billions of health care dollars each year. There is no more cost-effective provider of health care in our country.

When your mother, father, sister, brother or neighbor are struggling with a disability, dealing with a chronic illness, or recovering from a recent hospital stay, home care professional caregivers have the answer. Through technological advances, home-delivered health care has grown far beyond basic nursing and home health aide services. Modern home care has many of the same “bells and whistles” of hospital care. Today, home health patients can receive everything from shampoos to chemotherapy. Home health care providers work diligently to keep Americans in their homes, where they belong.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving and recall our many gifts, please remember the home care professionals in our community whose dedication and compassion make a difference every day for our loved ones. They make it possible for the healing to begin at home.

Judy Hockman, RN, BSN, MSN

System Director of Outpatient Clinical Services WVUH-East Home Health Care