PROVIDING THE “RIGHT” SKILLED NURSING TO SENIORS IN-HOME: HYGIEIA HOME HEALTH AND HOSPICE

By John Grossi

Photos submitted by Hygieia Home Health

Welcoming a skilled nurse into your home, whether during a time of recovery or hospice, is an incredibly intimate experience that can positively or negatively define your entire healthcare experience, depending on who is caring for you.

Unfortunately, in the modern healthcare model, patients are forced to make the decision on the fly, as they are rushed out of the hospital (usually prematurely) in an attempt by the insurance company to save money.

Here’s the good news. Following a hospitalization – that is, once the diagnosis, procedure, and/or operation is completed – almost every aspect of aftercare can be done in the comfort of your own home. The key is making sure you have a good skilled nurse!

The “Right” Size Company

Long Beach native David Zalopany started Hygieia Home Health and Hospice in 1995 at the age of 27. With partner Doris Ausman, then 65 and the long-time Chief Nursing Officer at Lakewood Regional Medical Center, he aimed to create a home health company that put professionalism and hospital-quality nursing at the forefront of its values.

“Doris’s clinical and corporate expertise set the tone for our company and helped set us apart from a lot of the other ‘mom and pop’ home health agencies,” explains David. “Our professionalism and customer service defines us.” He adds that callers will always talk to a real person when dialing Hygieia’s phone number.

Thirty years later, David acknowledges that, whereas their professionalism and technology has helped Hygieia to grow by comparison to other local companies, maintaining a high quality of care has kept them at a medium size.

“The hardest part of this business is finding good nurses. That’s where most of our time and energy is spent... in making sure we have the best possible nurses. Nurses who make patients feel comfortable in their own home. That’s also why we’ve stayed a medium-sized company. I’ve seen how the quality of care is greatly diminished at the huge home care companies. While we have grown a lot over the years, we are still a small business that is hands-on when it comes to hiring personnel,” says David.

Long Beach-Based

David is excited to announce he’s moving the headquarters for this medium-sized regional company back to Long Beach, the heart of its service area. As of summer 2025, the company’s new office is located at Clark and Spring in 90815. Not that customers really need to interact with headquarters, as the whole concept is based on skilled nurses bringing their services into your home… but it’s still nice to know. 

MORE important is knowing that they work with every area hospital in and around Long Beach including Long Beach Memorial, St. Mary’s, Lakewood Regional, Los Alamitos and more! If you are being discharged locally, and told you need continued care at home, ask for Hygieia – your insurance should cover it!

More Services Than You Think

The scope of care that skilled nurses are now able to provide is expansive. “We’re constantly ramping up, staying innovative on our care options…  and people are starting to catch on and create a hospital mentality at home. You can do x-rays, labs, podiatry, mobile labs, and more. This means homecare can be much more productive than it was in the past,” says David.

In addition to general geriatric skilled-nursing, Hygieia also offers therapy, social work, physical therapy, and occupational therapy upon request. That is almost an entire hospital staff of experts and specialists available in-home and covered by Medicare, to help you on the road to recovery.

Learn More About Patient Outcomes And Hygieia Home Health And Hospice

For proof of Hygieia’s customer satisfaction ratings, head to medicare.gov to see accurate data provided by real customers. On their website, HHHI.NET, you can learn more about the services Hygieia provides, the medical equipment they can bring into your home, and insurance plans they accept.

Most importantly, remember to ask about Hygieia when your doctor mentions the need for homecare. Named after the Greek goddess of health, Hygieia is ready to make your recovery the best it can possibly be!

Why Combine Home Health And Hospice Care?

Hygieia’s core values of professionalism and high quality translate to hospice care, as well as home health. The idea of hospice is to make the end of an individual’s life as comfortable and pleasant as possible. Hiring “good and kind nurses” is of paramount importance.

But one of the biggest misconceptions in the hospice world, that David is passionate about correcting, is the idea that “hospice” means you’re “giving up.” It does not. And David wants more people to realize that hospice is not a life sentence. You can go off hospice back into active care at any point.

This reality makes it all the more important to choose a company that handles both (hospice and active care) so your core team of care stays the same during potential changes in health.

“There are a variety of reasons why a patient may want to move from homecare to hospice and back to homecare,” says David. “Health conditions change, treatments change, and furthermore, sometimes a more relaxing environment may be what you need for a few months, away from intensive care.”

Staying under one in-home skilled nursing umbrella can make these transitions much easier for Hygieia’s patients.

Web: hhhi.net

Phone: (562) 865-4900

Fax: (562) 865-4945

Email: dzalopany@hhhi.net