At HillHouse, we excel in keeping our community informed. Below is a list of answers to some common questions.

Q: What does the daily fee include?
A: The daily rate includes all nursing and personal care; all meals and snacks; daily housekeeping and laundry; activities within the facility; all maintenance needs once the resident is moved into his/her room; bedding, blankets, pillows, towels and other linens.

Q: What does the daily fee not include?
A: The daily rate does not include the following: personal care items (toiletries, paper undergarments, etc), clothing, medications and any item necessary for any type of nursing or medical treatment, pet-care items, and assistive devices for ambulating or transferring. It also does not include charges for safety monitoring equipment, fall-alert and fall-injury prevention devices.

Q: How are often are there licensed nurses in the facility?
A: At present, there are licensed nurses (either RNs or LPNs) in the facility from 7 a.m. until 7pm Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. At all other times, the facility is staffed with a CRMA (Certified Residential Medication Aide) who dispenses all medications in accordance with physician orders. On occasion there is other licensed nursing staff on duty. From 7 am to 3 pm, Monday through Friday, the Director of Nursing is on duty, and for 18 hours per week there is a Quality Assurance registered nurse in the facility.

Q: Do you make accommodations for special diets?
A: Our dietary staff can accommodate most any dietary preference or physician ordered diet. If there are special brand names or highly unique items, we may request that the resident or resident family member purchase those items. With sufficient notice, Dietary will make specially ordered meals and residents and family members should feel very free to request special preferences. This is what makes HillHouse feel like home for many residents.

Q: What happens when a resident’s private funds have been exhausted?
A: HillHouse is not a MaineCare reimbursable facility. Although HillHouse management works with families when private funds are exhausted and attempts to be as flexible as possible, sometimes residents must move to MaineCare facilities. HillHouse does assist families in finding alternative living arrangements.

Q: What is the procedure for ordering and delivering resident medications?
A: We encourage residents and family members to use Waltz Pharmacy Long-Term Care located in Topsham. Waltz provides delivery services, prints out all Medication Administration Record forms, and arranges for all medication tablets and capsules to be in safety ‘bubble packs.’ Waltz also provides pharmacist consultants as required by the DHHS regulations governing assisted housing in Maine. The invoices from Waltz are delivered directly to the resident or family member and are not part of HillHouse’s monthly invoice.

Residents and families are free to use other pharmacies or mail-order sources; however, HillHouse reserves the right to rely on family members to do some or all of the pick-up and delivery of such medications and, in some instances, HillHouse may require the resident or his/her representative to monitor medication supplies to insure that there are adequate amounts of medications on hand.