House calls make a comeback as demand for senior health care surges

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — As the demand for accessible health care among seniors surges, mobile primary care services are stepping up to fill a critical gap, particularly for the home-bound elderly and those living in assisted-living facilities.

With the oldest baby boomers turning 80 in 2025, providers like Jet Health Care are reviving the once-common practice of house calls to meet the growing needs of an aging population.

Before the 1980s, house calls were standard, but as health care facilities became more accessible, the practice faded. Now, with an expanding elderly population facing increased health challenges, mobile primary care is making a comeback.

Heather Hartman, a nurse practitioner and owner of Jet Health Care, emphasized the urgency of the need.

“The patients are living longer, so the population is expanding,” Hartman said. “And their care needs are greater. There’s more acuity and illnesses and sicknesses.”

For home-bound patients, traveling to a doctor’s office can be daunting, if not impossible, making in-home care a vital solution.

Mobile primary care service offers comprehensive support, from ordering medications and diagnostics to referring patients to specialists or hospitals.

“We work up disease processes and preventative medicine,” Hartman added, noting that early intervention in patients’ homes can prevent unnecessary emergency room visits.

“Emergency rooms are overflowing,” she said. “Because people are in there sometimes unnecessarily. Or if we could have avoided the trajectory of their illness by taking care of it on day one instead of day five, often we can do that in their own home.”

Health care providers say the closure of Mercyhealth’s Rockton Avenue hospital on Rockford’s northwest side has further intensified the need for mobile care, leaving many seniors without local providers.

“We are trying to get over to those patients so they can get the care they deserve,” Hartman said.

The convenience and personalized attention allow seniors to thrive in their later years, maintaining health and independence. For seniors like 98-year-old Miny Ohlander, mobile primary care is a lifeline.

“These nurse practitioners, they’re very thorough,” she said. “You feel like you’ve been to a doctor. They take time for you.”