With a crew of new staff members, Small Town Home Health Solutions has expanded its services in Brown and surrounding counties. Pictured are (in no particular order) Jamie Brierly (RN), Lisa Flannery (RN), Vicki Leonard (PTA), Carla Pennington (administrator), Jill Newton (occupational therapist), and Barb Broshears (billing). Photo by Wade Linville
The closure of Ohio Valley Manor Home Health that took place late last year left several home health care workers without jobs, but thanks to Small Town Home Health Solutions’ decision to expand services by hiring additional employees, home health care will continue for a number of local clients who received home care through Ohio Valley Manor Home Health.
Jill Newton, an occupational therapist, has worked in local home health care since the early 1990s, and she was one of the home health care workers who was concerned about her future employment and the clients she cares for. Fortunately, she was able to find employment through Small Town Home Health Solutions (STHHS) so she can continue providing service to local clients in their homes.
“I’ve been serving the residents of Brown County and Adams County since ‘92 or ‘93,” said Newton.
Newton used to work at Ohio Valley Manor back in the early 1990s in inpatient services before Ohio Valley Manor started offering home health care. Around 14 years ago, Ohio Valley Manor started offering home health care and Newton was hired on as a home care provider. She worked in home health care for Ohio Valley Manor Home Health until its closure late last year.
Ohio Valley Manor Home Health employees received notice that it would be closing in October of last year, and its official closure took place at the end of November.
Not only was she concerned about the loss of her job with Ohio Valley Manor Home Health, but she was also worried about where some of her clients were to receive home health care following its closure. So, Newton referred one of her VA clients to Small Town Home Health Solutions, and she would later join the team at Small Town Home Health.
“To be able to serve the county has been my goal, and I would like to continue doing it,” said Newton. “As we work in home health you build relationships with clients and families, and we wanted to be able to continue providing for them.”
“It was very sad for us,” Newton said of the closure.
In referring one of her clients to Small Town Home Health Solutions, Newton came into contact with Carla Pennington (RN), administrator of Small Town Home Health Solutions.
Newton explained her situation to Pennington, and it didn’t take long for her to become part of the home healthcare staff at Small Town. But she wasn’t the only former employee of Ohio Valley Manor Home Health to join the team at Small Town after losing her job. She was joined by numerous home health providers who were also hired on at Small Town.
“Luckily, we were able to find employment with Carla because she was already serving residents of Adams County and Brown County, and they also serve Clermont County,” said Newton.
Among the former Ohio Valley Manor Home Health employees to join Small Town were Lisa Flannery, a registered nurse of Ripley, and Vicki Leonard, a physical therapist assistant of Manchester. Also joining the team at Small Town was Jamie Brierly (RN), of Ripley, and Barb Boshears, of Mt. Orab, who works in billing.
“We’re all local, and we’ve been providing home health care for a long time, and we are continuing to do this through Small Town,” said Newton.
“It’s been wonderful to be able to continue the services that we already established, and we are accepting new patients as well,” said Newton.
“We have quite a few clients who did follow us (to Small Town),” she added.
Pennington has been pleased with her decision to expand services by taking on several new home healthcare workers.
“We planned on just staying small to service the community that nobody else will service in our area, and OVM’s closure helped us expand,” Pennington explained.
Small Town Home Health Solutions now provides services in the counties of Brown, Adams, Clermont, Clinton, parts of Warren, eastern Hamilton, and a small portion of Highland.
Small Town started providing home health care in September of 2022 and now consists of 33 employees.
The services provided by Small Town Home Health Solutions include: skilled nursing, skilled home health aide, physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy.
STHHS strives to provide the communities it serves with care that provides a confident, reliable and trustworthy experience, according to Pennington.
“We came from other agencies, so our staff came together and we have 30 years of experience serving those areas (Brown and surrounding counties),” said Pennington.
“Our slogan is ‘neighbors caring for neighbors’ and that’s really important to us. We want to hire the people that live in the community to treat people in their community,” said Pennington.
For more information on Small Town Home Health Solutions, visit its website at www.SmallTownHomeHealthSolutions.com.
Small Town Home Health Solutions accepts most insurances, including VA.
You can contact Small Town Home Health Solutions by email at info@smalltownhomehealthsolutions.com, or by phone at (513) 214-3301. Small Town Home Health Solutions also has a Facebook page.