Hospital discharge to home in Winnipeg: what WRHA arranges and what a private agency adds
Call 204-798-0490
Free consultation
Hospital discharge to home in Winnipeg: what WRHA arranges and what a private agency adds
When a parent is discharged from a Winnipeg hospital, WRHA Home Care arranges the assessed care at home: a case coordinator decides what public services the person qualifies for, and those in-home services come at no charge. A private, non-medical agency such as Friendly Caregiver Seniors Care adds the hours and the nights the assessment does not cover. This page is for an adult child whose parent is coming home this week and who wants to know who does what. Call 204-798-0490, answered 24 hours a day, or contact us.
What WRHA Home Care arranges
Before a patient leaves HSC, St. Boniface, Grace, Concordia, Seven Oaks or Victoria, find out whether a referral to WRHA Home Care has been made. Anyone can refer a Manitoba resident to Home Care for an eligibility assessment, and the family can call the WRHA Home Care Intake Line, 204-788-8330, themselves.
The assessment. A WRHA case coordinator, a health care professional, meets the person and the family, decides eligibility and services, and both sign the care plan. The assessment counts what the family can already do, and the hours are what the assessment supports.
What public Home Care can include. Depending on the assessment: help with bathing, dressing, toileting and moving around; meals, light housekeeping and laundry; nursing care and therapy; medication assistance; short periods of in-home respite for a family caregiver; and supplies and equipment. In-home services from the public program are provided without charge to eligible Manitobans.
The gap families hit in the first days
Three things are worth planning for in the first week home.
- Timing. Ask the WRHA case coordinator for the date of the first public visit, and plan who is in the house between the drive home and that visit.
- Nights. A parent who is unsteady, confused by a new routine, or getting up to the bathroom at 3 a.m. needs someone in the house. Ask whether nights are part of the assessed plan; if not, the night is the family’s to cover.
- Hours beyond the assessment. The plan covers what the person needs to stay safely at home; it does not cover a daughter who works full time, a spouse who cannot lift, or a parent whose family is worried about leaving them alone. Evenings, overnights, longer blocks and the same person every visit are what families add privately.
The public program sets the schedule and the worker, and the backup plan is the family’s.
What a private non-medical agency adds
Friendly Caregiver Seniors Care is a private, non-medical home care agency, family-run in Winnipeg since 2009. We fill the hours around the public plan, with visits from 3 hours up to 24 hours, seven days a week, and the same caregiver each visit wherever the schedule allows.
- Personal care: help with washing, dressing, getting to and from the bathroom, and a cooked meal.
- Overnight care: a caregiver in the home through the night, awake or sleeping nearby as your family chooses, so the person is never alone if they wake.
- Respite care: an afternoon, a full day or up to 24 hours, so the family member who has been at the hospital every day can sleep.
- Companionship and outings: company, errands, and an escort to the follow-up appointment at the clinic or the hospital.
- Light housekeeping and meal preparation are part of every care visit, not a separate service.
What we do not do: our caregivers are not nurses. We do not give medication, change dressings, provide therapy or any nursing care. Those stay with WRHA Home Care and the person’s doctor, and we work alongside them. See private home care in Winnipeg for the full picture.
Getting started with private care
Call 204-798-0490 as soon as you have a discharge date. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The owner, Loreta Stukaite, asks about a normal day, which hours need covering, and whether WRHA Home Care is already involved, then matches a caregiver to your family and comes to the first visit. Every caregiver has completed a criminal record check, an adult abuse registry check and a child abuse registry check before starting with a family, and the agency is insured. The consultation is free and there is no obligation.
Who pays
WRHA Home Care’s in-home services are at no charge to eligible Manitobans. Private hours are paid by the family, or, if the person qualifies for Self and Family Managed Care, from the SFMC funding the WRHA pays to the family to spend on an agency of their choice. Many of our Winnipeg clients keep their WRHA visits and add private hours on top. The three options, and who qualifies for each, are on who pays for home care in Manitoba.
What to ask before discharge
Five questions to ask before discharge.
- Has my parent been referred to WRHA Home Care for an assessment, and who is the case coordinator?
- For the case coordinator: what services and hours are in the care plan, and when is the first visit?
- Is any equipment needed at home, who is arranging it, and when does it arrive?
- Which follow-up appointments are booked, and who is driving?
- Who do we call, day or night, if something is wrong in the first week?
Then call us with the gaps: the first night, the mornings before the public visit, the days the family cannot be there.
Frequently asked questions
Does WRHA Home Care start the day my parent comes home from hospital?
The start date depends on the assessment and the program’s schedule: the case coordinator’s assessment sets the services, and the program sets the schedule and the worker. Ask the case coordinator for the date of the first visit, or call the WRHA Home Care Intake Line, 204-788-8330.
Can we have WRHA Home Care and a private agency at the same time?
Yes. Many of our Winnipeg clients keep their WRHA visits and add private hours on top. The public plan covers what is assessed; we cover the evenings, nights and extra days around it.
Can a private caregiver stay overnight after a hospital discharge?
Yes. An overnight caregiver stays in the home through the night, awake or sleeping nearby as the family chooses, for one night, a run of nights, or every night.
Will your caregiver give medication or change a dressing?
No. Friendly Caregiver Seniors Care is a non-medical agency with no licensed nurses on staff. Medication, dressings, therapy and nursing stay with WRHA Home Care and the person’s doctor; our caregivers help with washing, dressing, meals, housekeeping, company and the night.
Who pays for private home care after a hospital stay in Manitoba?
The family, unless the person qualifies for Self and Family Managed Care, in which case the WRHA pays assessed funding to the family to spend on an agency of their choice. Public in-home services are at no charge to eligible Manitobans. See who pays for home care in Manitoba.
Call before the discharge date
Call 204-798-0490, any hour, or contact us. Tell us the hospital, the expected date, and which hours worry you; the consultation is free.