OSF Home Care designed its newest program – OSF Physician House Calls – with the patient first in mind, but the program also benefits physicians and lends efficiencies to the delivery of home health care.

The practice of bringing health care to patients at home dates back to 1877, when The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis founded their religious order in Peoria, Ill., and served their community out of a small, two-story rented house.

In the early days, the pioneer Sisters rode bicycles to homes of patients who could not make it to the small hospital. They wanted to reach everyone in the community. To continue this quest and improve patient care today, OSF Home Care has enlisted the services of full-time medical director, Dr. Robert Sawicki, to head a new program called OSF Physician House Calls.

What is OSF Physician House Calls?

OSF Home Care Medical Director, Dr. Robert Sawicki, works with attending physicians to arrange visits with OSF Home Care or OSF Hospice patients in central Illinois who are homebound. Dr. Sawicki will serve patients by:

• Talking with you and your family about your illness and choices for care
• Helping to manage pain and other symptoms
• Visiting you at home if you are a home health patient and find it difficult to travel to your doctor’s office
• Working with your attending/family physician to plan your care at home
• Teaching you and your family about hospice care and when it may be an appropriate choice

How do I get a visit from OSF Physician House Calls?

OSF Physician House Calls is available for patients in Central Illinois. The House Calls physician has specific scheduled days in and around Bloomington, Galesburg, Peoria and Pontiac. To request a visit,

• Ask your doctor to call and schedule a visit
• If you or a love one is in a nursing home and would like more information about OSF Hospice and end-of-life issues, please have a staff member call OSF Physician House Calls.
• If you or a loved one is a patient in an OSF hospital in central Illinois, ask to speak with an OSF Home Care coordinator.

The OSF Physician House Calls program has been featured by the National Association for Home Care and Hospice in its national magazine, Caring.   Read more >>