Home health care in Eagle County is hamstrung mostly by a lack of funding
There's a roughly $500,000 gap to building a structure that will work

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Eagle County lost its last private home-health provider in 2023. The Eagle County Paramedic Services District has tried since then to fill that gap, but there’s only so much the district can do.
According to district CEO Brandon Daruna, the district is currently providing “limited” skilled nursing care under a license it obtained in 2024. That license is in addition to a license that for several years had allowed district employees to provide preventive care, wellness checks and similar services.
• 10,000: Approximate current Eagle County population age 60 and older
• 16,000: Estimated Eagle County population 60 and older by 2040
The 2024 license provides care to patients who are often just out of the hospital, and is part of a standard “continuum of care.”
The problem, as is often the case, is how to pay for those services.
Alice Harvey runs the district’s home care program. At the moment, the district has three full-time paramedics providing services, as well as between four and six part-timers and a care coordinator. Harvey, a registered nurse, also participates in providing care, but not full-time. That unit — part of the district’s roughly 100 employees — accounts for about 15% of the district’s calls.

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Harvey said the problem with seeking payment is that most of the payments the home care paramedics see are eligible for Medicare. But the district can’t submit bills for service to that government program until it’s able to offer a broader variety of services.
To do that, the community paramedic program needs to have a full-time nurse, a physical therapist, and provide other services. Harvey said there’s a roughly $500,000 gap in startup costs before the district can fully fund the program.
That means “If you are living in Eagle County and on Medicare and need home health, you’re not able to receive the full benefit … your only option is to pay out of pocket,” Harvey said.
Harvey added that the district is working with both private and public partners in order to close that gap.
“We’re not talking about providing a free service,” Harvey said. “We’re talking about building a structure to realize the benefit of Medicare” for local residents.
While noting that Medicare offering reimbursement for services will be a big step forward, Daruna wrote that program won’t cover the cost of doing business in the valley. That means continuing support will be needed. That’s what makes private home health care a virtual impossibility, and why continued public and private support for the district will be essential.
Harvey compared the needs of home health to those of behavioral health, which has required broad community partnerships.
Harvey said fundraising continues this year, and is optimistic that a good start can be made, although real progress might not be seen until next year.