March 21, 2023
What makes Wellspring stand out from other in-home care providers? Our skill in caring for high-acuity, chronically ill patients in the home is a major plus for our clients. Home care agencies that provide only housekeeping and companionship are not licensed to do that. In addition, we provide nurse-managed care, which means each client’s care is managed by our director of nursing. Finally, we all benefit from the medical expertise and insights of our medical director, Steven Fox, D.O.
Early in Steve’s 40-year career as a geriatrician, his job was to examine nursing home patients so that those who needed psychiatric care could be moved to a more appropriate setting. “I saw the difficulties inherent in nursing home care,” he recalls. “In my opinion, with the way nursing homes are structured and staffed, there’s no way you can take care of all of those patients’ individual needs. We firmly believe that even the frailest, sickest patients can be treated at home, and that is exactly what Wellspring provides.”
Ensuring quality of life
Part of Steve’s role at Wellspring is to visit each new client’s home to evaluate their condition, environment, and care plan. He meets with family members to educate them about their loved one’s condition and provides ongoing support. “I think what motivates me is that the freedom and autonomy the patient gains by living at home improves their quality of life,” he says. “And what we do at Wellspring is all about quality of life, no matter how disabled the client is.”
Over the course of decades, Steve’s experience with in-home visits has given him insights that most other doctors don’t have. His expertise benefits the entire Wellspring team. All of our caregivers are prepared for and comfortable with clients who are medically challenged or who need lots of equipment and specialized care. We know how it might be possible to improve each client’s quality of life. One example is our recent work with a nonverbal patient. We introduced her to adaptive technology to help her communicate. “It was really profound how her world expanded when she could communicate with her caregivers in a way other than shaking her head,” says Steve.
“All of us have benefited from Steve’s medical knowledge and his principles of how you provide good medical care,” says Wellspring founder Sheila McMackin, MSW, LCSW. “He teaches us every single day. We even care for medically fragile children. There are very few agencies like us who do that.”
Expert witness for medical malpractice
Steve’s deep experience has also made him a sought-after expert witness in medical malpractice suits that involve older adults. Plaintiffs’ attorneys hire him to review the plaintiff’s medical records, including any in-home medical treatment plans. “What does the standard of care require for this particular patient, and were those standards violated?” is his approach. “A lot of doctors aren’t familiar with a normal treatment plan for a patient in home care,” he notes, “because they have no experience with that.” Thanks to his vast knowledge about quality of care, developed over 30-plus years of providing expert testimony, Steve is considered an expert in the field who can deliver correct information for the case.
In 2022, Dr. Fox’s expert evaluation and testimony helped make it clear to a jury that a vehicle collision had caused both brain injury and dementia in an elderly man. The plaintiff was awarded a $7.27 million settlement. Read our blog post about the case.
As more and more people, young and old, decide they wish to continue living in their own home while receiving medical treatment, Wellspring is ready with years of expertise and recognized authority in the field of geriatric and high-acuity care.