Interim Healthcare

They are a Medicare 5 star agency. Only one in all of San Diego County.

Had an RN and a Physical Therapist assigned after a total knee replacement. Although I might have reduced the rating by ¼ star if I could because I had to call them twice to get things set up, that’s really not a big deal, and has nothing to do with the health care professionals who were assigned.
The RN and the PT guy were absolutely top notch, competent, empathic, and everything one could want. I only needed to see the RN twice, so we didn’t have a lot of interaction, but it was clear that she was very good.
The PT guy was here two to three times a week, and words can’t really describe how helpful he was. PT after a total knee replacement is not easy, and is a long way from pain free, but he made it as stress free as possible. He knew what was needed, knew just what to look for and always explained just what to expect. My only regret is that once I got to where I could move around, Interim Healthcare had to discharge me and turn me over to a local PT place. The local place will be fine, I’m sure, but the best I can hope for is that they’ll be as good as the folks who just finished.

Coverage on weekends is spotty/​shaky to non-​existent at best, even for urgent needs (though we were told they were «on call» on weekends). I was helping care in-​home for patient who was bed ridden and relied on a catheter. According to the families personal caretaker, the nurse from Interim Healthcare appeared not know how to properly install and maintain a catheter. This was observed at least 2 times:
1. Initial changing out of catheter tube on arrival from hospital. Nurse tried to install tubing larger than patient had already had inserted. Was hard to understand why there would be any confusion, as the size of original tubing could easily be observed from the catheter that was removed, for comparison. This caused considerable pain and discomfort to the patient.
2. Upon the next change out of the catheter, it was observed (by the families personal caretaker) that the tubing was not flushed properly with saline solution (was not done AT ALL).
It should also be noted that when lab samples (urine cultures) were taken, they were taken from the catheter bag which is traditionally full of germs, giving incorrect readings, and should not be accomplished in this fashion.
On top of all that, the catheter bag was a type that often kinked up and was easily blocked. We were not aware of other types and none were offered or made available to us, though they do exist.
All of the above is important because this particular patient ended up going to the emergency room on a Sunday, after a 4AM urgent request for home care visit and receiving no answer by phone (either positive or negative, as to ETA, etc.) by 10 AM.
It turned out that the patient’s catheter had been blocked for at least a day, even though a nurse from Interim Care had been to the house late Friday, and it had SERIOUS, SEVERE, IMMEDIATE, and LASTING medical implications for the patient.