Home Health Care in Hillsborough County, FL

Hillsborough County is home for us. Our office is on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, our agency is locally owned, and our nurses and therapists spend their days on county roads, from the oak-lined streets of older Tampa neighborhoods to new subdivisions in the south and the farmland around Plant City. When you search for home health care in Hillsborough County, you are looking for people who know these places, and that is who we are.

What is home health care in Hillsborough County?

Home health is skilled, part-time medical care that your doctor orders and a licensed clinician provides at your home. Making Memories Home Health is Medicare-certified and holds accreditation from The Joint Commission. Across the county we offer:

• Skilled nursing, including chronic disease teaching for heart failure, COPD and diabetes, and care after surgery or a hospital stay.
• Wound and ostomy care.
• Physical therapy and occupational therapy to rebuild strength, balance and everyday skills.
• Speech-language therapy, medical social work, and a home health aide for personal care when your plan of care also includes nursing or therapy.

Home health visits are part-time, and they are not a substitute for emergency help. Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, stroke symptoms or any emergency.

One county, very different neighborhoods

Hillsborough has only three cities, Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City. Most other communities, from Brandon and Riverview to Lutz and Town ‘n’ Country, are unincorporated, which is why so many addresses say “Tampa” even outside the city limits. Life at home looks different in each part of the county. Near downtown and in older suburbs, homes may have steps at the entry and small bathrooms. Out east toward Dover and Plant City, rural roads and large lots mean longer drives. In the South Shore area around Sun City Center, Ruskin and Apollo Beach, we often help older adults keep track of several doctors and a long medicine list. We plan visits and teaching around those realities.

Who qualifies for home health care in Hillsborough

For Medicare to cover home health, all of the following need to be true:

• Certification. Your physician, or an allowed practitioner (an NP, CNS or PA), confirms that home care is needed and checks the plan of care on a regular basis.
• Skilled care. Part-time nursing, physical therapy or speech-language therapy is medically necessary for you, or you need occupational therapy that continues from your earlier care.
• Homebound. Leaving home is a considerable and taxing effort, whether you live in a Tampa apartment or on a rural lot near Plant City. Now-and-then short outings for health care, worship or adult day care do not count against you.
• Face-to-face encounter. A provider examined you for the main reason you need home health within the window of 90 days before to 30 days after your first visit.

Medicare and insurance across Hillsborough County

Medicare can pay for home health when those rules are met and you use a Medicare-certified agency. It won’t pay for an aide around the clock, for meals, or for chores and personal care with no skilled service attached. We accept Traditional Medicare, plus long-term care plans and private pay. Medicare Advantage coverage and our participation depend on your specific plan, so we verify both before care starts. Call (813) 931-0015 to verify your coverage. Visit our insurance page for more.

How to start home health care in Hillsborough County

Most patients start with a referral to Making Memories Home Health from their doctor or a hospital discharge planner. Doctors’ offices and hospital case managers may submit a referral on our site or fax it to (813) 931-0017. Families can call (813) 931-0015 during office hours (8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday), and we will ask your doctor for the orders. After your benefits check, a nurse or therapist comes out to begin your plan of care. Once care begins, our patients have a nurse on call around the clock.

Areas we serve in Hillsborough County

Our clinicians fan out from North Dale Mabry Highway using I-275, I-4, I-75, the Selmon Expressway and the Veterans Expressway. We serve:

• Tampa and North County: Tampa neighborhoods, Temple Terrace, Carrollwood, Town ‘n’ Country and the Hillsborough County part of Lutz.
• East County: Brandon, Valrico, Seffner, Dover and Plant City.
• South County: Riverview, Apollo Beach, Ruskin and Sun City Center.

Discharge planners we work with come from hospitals all over the county, such as AdventHealth Tampa, Tampa General, St. Joseph’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, AdventHealth Carrollwood, HCA Florida Brandon Hospital, South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City, and HCA Florida South Shore Hospital, just off I-75 in Sun City Center.

Whether your family talks about health in English or in Spanish, our bilingual clinicians can teach in either language.