Patient finds Hospital at Home program is a perfect fit

St. Luke’s launched the Hospital at Home program in November 2024 with the goal of providing quality healthcare for patients in the comfort of their own home.

The program, still the only of its kind in Idaho, quickly became an important part of the St. Luke’s Health System.

“With the population growth, it’s been a really helpful way to meet the needs of our community much more rapidly than building a hospital that takes seven years to build,” said Dr. Adam Balinger, Hospital at Home medical director.

When Kayla Schmidt had an infection requiring treatment, she discovered she was the ideal candidate for Hospital at Home care. Schmidt, 18, was in a motor vehicle accident in early 2023 that left her paralyzed.

“I was at the hospital at first and they have a shower there, but I couldn’t really use it. I have a specific shower chair that I need to take showers,” Schmidt said. “Also, at home, I have a bed that alternates my pressure … and it helps me not get bed sores. I also have Alexa-powered everything in my room.

“It’s hard to set up all those things at the hospital, obviously. I have so many extra needs, which makes it so much better to have the option of being at home.”

Kayla’s mother, Holly Schmidt, said having her daughter under her own roof eased the family’s anxieties about how Kayla, a wheelchair user, would handle time in the hospital.

“It let us carry about our day-to-day things without me worrying as a parent — even though she’s 18, we like to be there and advocate for her,” Holly said. “I was impressed with the staff. They were concerned about her safety and gave her quality care. Everything got done on her terms and it was great. … It was such a positive experience for our family. It was really seamless.”

Dr. Balinger “visited” Kayla through the use of telehealth technology.

“I saw (Dr. Balinger) and nurses on the iPad that they gave me,” Kayla said. “it was like they just came in my room.”

Since the program’s start, Dr. Balinger has discovered an added benefit: His relationships with patients can be more personal.

“I noticed almost immediately that patients are willing to share a lot more … because they’re in their own home,” he said. “Being able to take care of (Kayla) in her own space allowed me to learn a lot about her by seeing her in her own room and seeing what matters to her — what music she enjoys and the posters on her wall, for example.”

Dr. Balinger said Kayla’s situation was unique, but it provided a great example of a Hospital at Home success story.

“It was valuable for her to have her own specialized equipment that we don’t necessarily have in a hospital setting,” Dr. Balinger said. “More broadly speaking, that’s kind of the benefit of Hospital at Home: We can come into someone’s home and provide care in a way that is just more comfortable for them.”

From November 2024 through May of this year, the program has cared for almost 700 patients and saved more than 2,100 hospital bed days. The average stay for each patient is about three days.

Holly Schmidt said she wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of the program again.

“We’d even request it right off the bat, since it made things so much easier for her,” she said. “Hospital at Home took care of all of our needs and addressed our anxieties from the get-go.”

Program provides a ‘full-circle’ reunion

Jaxon Bates began working at St. Luke’s around the time that the Hospital at Home program launched.

Bates was a paramedic for 15 years before joining St. Luke’s as a supervisor.

“I was a longtime paramedic with Ada County Paramedics and (in 2023) I got called to the scene of a traffic accident,” Bates said.

That accident turned out to be the one involving Kayla Schmidt. It didn’t take long for Bates to assess the severity of the accident.

“I knew right then that she was going to be paralyzed,” he said.

Bates has been on the scene of countless accidents during his career, but Schmidt’s situation left a lasting impression on him.

“I was always thinking, ‘I wonder how Kayla is doing?’” Bates said. “She’s one story that always stuck out in my head. I was constantly checking her parents’ Facebook page, just to see how her progress was coming along.”

Recently, Bates found himself in a meeting in which staff members were discussing a patient who was going to return to her home in Star.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this Kayla?’” he said. “And, of course, it was.”

Bates made a point of joining the paramedic who was going to Schmidt’s house for an appointment.

“I was able to meet (Kayla) and her mom and the family,” Bates said. “It was just cool to meet her and talk to her and get to know her a little bit.

“When you go on those serious calls where you feel like you provided something the person needed urgently — it’s cool to meet those people afterwards. It’s rewarding, to say the least.”

Holly Schmidt said it was nice to be able to thank Bates for his efforts in helping Kayla.

“It was just a full-circle coincidence that he was able to come out here and meet with us,” she said. “It was great for him to see how far she has come.”