Patient Stories

When Cliff had trouble breathing, his wife took him to Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center. The nearly 80-year-old lives with claustrophobia and was fearing nights alone in a hospital room. That’s when he was approached about Gundersen Home Hospital. He eagerly enrolled into the program. “I was sent home at 4:30 pm and received an oxygen system with six tanks. A nurse came out with a kit that included a pulse oximeter, blood pressure cuff, scale, thermometer and tablet. He really took care of me and spent a lot of time with me and my wife,” said Johnson. Cliff’s acute care registered nurse…

When congestion and fever kept Richard from his regularly scheduled golf game, his wife Sue knew he was sick. They went to the Emergency Department at Marshfield Medical Center in Marshfield for the first of two visits where he tested positive for COVID-19. Richard was in and out of the hospital battling COVID-related pneumonia until they heard about Home Recovery Care, which is provided through a partnership with Contessa.

Few things are scarier than having trouble breathing. So, when James started experiencing shortness of breath, he made the decision to visit the Greenville Memorial Hospital Emergency Room.

When Diana was bitten on the hand by her daughter’s cat, she made the decision to visit the Emergency Department. Doctors prescribed her antibiotics, but after a few days, she noticed her hand was continuing to swell. On her second trip to the Gundersen La Crosse Emergency Department, she was told she needed IV antibiotics to treat the Cellulitis that had formed.

After battling chronic bladder and urinary tract infections, Dorothy’s doctor recommended a hospital admission. She needed IV antibiotics to help her fight off the persistent infections. Shortly after being admitted to Chandler Regional Medical Center, a Recovery Care Coordinator reached out to Dorothy and her family to let them know she was eligible for the Dignity Health Home Recovery Care program.

Bobby was used to living in pain. For six months the 86-year-old had battled debilitating pain in his back, but physicians weren’t able to identify the cause. His son, Michael, finally convinced him to go to the emergency room at Saint Thomas Rutherford in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Dolores spent 2020 in and out of the hospital battling Congestive Heart Failure. In November, she went home with Home Recovery Care and hasn’t had to make a trip back to the emergency room since. She credits the program with her long-term success.

After battling COVID-19 for six days in the hospital without his wife by his side, George Hoff was excited to go home with hospital-level care.

William Davenport built his career as a dancer. Using his body as an instrument, it was concerning when health issues started slowing down the 73-year-old performer. After many visits to the hospital, he was sent home with Hospitalization at Home. He hasn’t made a trip back to the ER since.

Robert Pica enrolled into Dignity’s Home Recovery Care program after he went to the emergency room for COPD. The 73-year-old hasn’t spent much time in the hospital and wasn’t about to start now. When he was approached about going home with hospital-level care, he seized the opportunity.