Taylor Community welcomes Live Free Home Health Care as 'preferred provider'

LACONIA — The Taylor Community announced yesterday at a press conference that it has named Live Free Home Health Care as a "preferred provider" for services that aren't covered by Medicare but which allow people to continue living independently.

Calling them "extremely good at what they do," Taylor Community President Tim Martin introduced Jason and Jennifer Harvey to a large group of residents who attended the announcement. The Harveys own and operate Life Free Home Health Care, a private duty nursing and care company based in Bristol and founded five years ago.

The meeting introduced a relationship between the non-profit Taylor Community and the health care company. Martin said the arrangement came about as a result of residents who asked him questions such as, "why can't we get a nurse to come to my home when I don't feel good." Live Free Home Health Care, said Martin, will fill in the "gray areas" of care that Medicare won't cover.

The health care company, which has a staff of more than 50, will keep an office at the Taylor Community that will be staffed nine hours each week and will provide residents with a variety of services. The company's staff, which includes nurses, care providers and housekeepers, will help administer medication, change bandages and help residents get dressed and into the shower. They will also help do laundry, prepare meals and do errands.

These services have been available to residents, as well as for the population at large, but as a "preferred provider" Taylor Community residents will be able to contract for them at a discounted rate.

Martin said the agency was recommended to him by Community Health and Hospice.

Although the onsite offices will be staffed for three hours on three days of the week, the Harveys told the crowd that they can call the company's Bristol office any time and that services can be arranged for any hour of the week. Depending upon the service required, the company may require a two-hour minimum for billing purposes.

"We think this is going to be a big benefit to many of you," Martin said.

CAPTION for LIVE FREE in AA:

Live Free Home Health Care, a Bristol-based company, has been named a "preferred provider" by the Taylor Community of Laconia. Shown here, following a conference held to announce the relationship, Live Free Home Health Care owners Jason and Jennifer Harvey answer questions posed by Taylor Community residents Ken Haley and John Leitch. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Adam Drapcho)