Fort HealthCare Home Health to Transition Client Care to Marquardt Home Health

After more than 25 years of service to area residents, Fort HealthCare will be closing its home health program effective January 31, 2014. Administrative staff from Fort HealthCare and Marquardt Village in Watertown have been working to assure a smooth transition for those adult and pediatric clients, their families, physicians and caregivers who agree to allow Marquardt Home Health to assume their continuing care. The staff of Fort HealthCare Home Health will have the opportunity to interview for positions at both Fort HealthCare and Marquardt Home Health.

Clients on the Fort HealthCare caseload will continue to be seen by Fort HealthCare nursing staff and therapists up to the final date of service. It is expected that most clients on the current caseload will no longer require home health services after that time, and the number of persons directly affected will be small. In anticipation of that date, and to reduce the number of patients directly affected, the Fort HealthCare program as of January 1, 2014, will no longer accept new referrals.

Our home health program has been an integral part of Fort HealthCare programming, and many lives have been touched by the program’s exceptional staff,” said Kay Wipperfurth, vice president of ancillary and support services. “This decision to close the service is a difficult one. Hospital-based home health agencies across the country are closing due to high overhead costs and continually falling reimbursement from Medicare. Under these circumstances, it has become impractical for Fort HealthCare to sustain a program experiencing such significant annual operating losses.”

Wipperfurth noted that the capabilities and full range of services for the elderly and disabled as provided by Marquardt Village will offer home health patients a continuum of services critically important to maintaining good health and remaining as independent as possible.

Marquardt Village has been providing home-based health and supportive services to residents of Watertown and surrounding areas for decades. The transition of Fort HealthCare’s client care to Marquardt Village is an opportunity for the faith-based, full-service retirement community to extend home health services to more people, in fulfillment of its mission of care.

“We’re excited to partner with Fort HealthCare in this transition and to continue important health services to the people of Fort Atkinson and surrounding areas,” said Matthew Mauthe, chief executive officer of Marquardt Village. “While clients can choose another home health provider, for those who stay with us the skilled nursing and therapies they are receiving can continue as before. In addition, as needed, clients can easily access other services through Marquardt at Home, such as supportive home care and hospice care. They can even arrange for short-term respite stay or inpatient rehabilitation at our Marquardt Health Center.”

About Fort HealthCare

Fort HealthCare is an integrated hospital and health system that attracts patients from throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Fort Memorial Hospital is a modern, fully accredited, acute care facility with 82 licensed beds. More than 100 physicians are on staff. Fort Medical Group, a subsidiary of Fort HealthCare, currently employs more than 60 physicians, nurse practitioners, and other healthcare providers. Fort Medical Group clinics offering primary and specialty surgical care are located in Fort Atkinson, Cambridge, Johnson Creek, Jefferson, Lake Mills and Whitewater. Other services offered by Fort HealthCare include occupational medicine, rehabilitation and sports medicine, wound care, urgent care, a preferred provider network for employers known as FortCare and more. Fort HealthCare is a partner in the University of Wisconsin Cancer Center at Johnson Creek and in the Advanced Pain Management Fort Atkinson ambulatory surgery center. Most major health insurance products are accepted. For more information, please go to http://www.forthealthcare.com.

About Marquardt Village, Marquardt at Home, and Marquardt Home Health

Marquardt Village is a full-service retirement community, located in Watertown, Wisconsin. The community offers apartments and garden homes for independent living, as well as residential health services which include assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. Sponsored by the Western District of the Moravian Church, Marquardt Village is a faith-based, not-for-profit community that is open to all.

Marquardt at Home brings a full range of supportive services and professional care to individuals living in private homes in the region. Services include Marquardt Home Health, Supportive Home Care, Marquardt Hospice and Marquardt Lifeline. For more information, please visit http://www.marquardtvillage.org.