Blue Skies Home Care Offers Services Across North Missouri

Blue Skies Home Care LLC is offering in-home services across the state. They offer what is known as CDS care, or Consumer Directed Services. That means that the person is in control of their care by either a friend or a family member other than a spouse. This can include such things as personal care, cooking, cleaning, and transportation.

In 2007, Blue Skies was founded by Ian Gewin and Katrina McIntyre. Gewin is the owner of the business and McIntyre is the regional director for this area. They were co-workers at other places before they founded the company. They started from a few clients in 2007 to around 350 across North Missouri today in over 30 counties. They are from as far away as Cosby, Hannibal, and Kansas City. Clients are evaluated by the Department of Health and Senior Services to determine the number of hours that they will allow; then, they will choose a provider like Blue Skies.

Blue Skies then provides guidance and ensures that the client is following the guidelines for their care. It is similar to traditional in-home care, but it gives the client more control over what they want. McIntyre has been in the health care industry for the last 13 years. She worked for two independent living centers before founding Blue Skies with Gewin to offer Consumer Directed Services. She covers all of Northwest Missouri, Kansas City, and St. Joseph. Besides McIntyre and Gewin, Blue Skies has two other employees in the region. They are Jim Pawlowski, Regional Manager; and Bel Daniels, CDS Specialist. all of their managers and case managers come with experience in CDS or the industry. Consumer Directed Services is a Missouri Healthnet (Medicaid) program that is administered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

To quality for services, the individual must have a disabling condition that results in a need for assistance with activities of daily living. They must also be at least 18 years of age, be on Missouri Medicaid, and be able to direct their services. They must then be evaluated by the DHSS to see if they qualify. The evaluation also determines how many hours of services the individual will receive. The customers can hire who they want and decide what times during the day that their employee is going to work.

The consumer has control over when the work is done; for instance, the worker can come in the morning to get them up and then come back in the evening to fix supper or provide more personal care. Blue Skies assigns each consumer with a case manager who works with them to help ensure that they are getting quality care and that they are following the guidelines of the program. They also handle the payroll processing and assist with other needs such as medical equipment or other issues. Katrina McIntyre can be reached at (660) 937-3030. You can also reach her online at katrina@grm.net. They are in the process of launching a website at www.blueskiescds.com.