'Unicorn' PHS spreads its wings

MINNEAPOLIS - After serving a “sliver” of western Wisconsin for years, Pediatric Home Service will open its doors to the entire state from its new location in Milwaukee.

“We are pretty connected with the healthcare community there and we've heard over the years, 'Please come in and offer more services,'” said Mark Hamman, president. “We felt it was the right time to make the move and we will continue to work with payer sources and the state Medicaid program to expand and let them know we are a high service, clinical provider that gets these kids out of the hospital and keeps them at home where they belong.”

PHS offers home infusion, enteral nutrition, respiratory and specialty pharmacy services and private-duty nursing across the state of Minnesota and parts of Iowa and the Dakotas, but for now, it will focus just on respiratory and enteral nutrition in Wisconsin, said Hamman.

“We knew there was a need for it, so we'll start there until we get a better lay of the landscape,” he said. “Then we'll look at what else we can bring to Wisconsin, whether it's infusion, or private-duty nursing or some other therapy.”

While it eases into the Wisconsin market, PHS will also consider other services it might add to its mix, said Hamman. That includes speech therapy, PT and OT, and complex rehab.

“A lot of our kids are in these big power wheelchairs and gait trainers that we don't do,” he said. “I am not saying we are going to do them, but if there's a need and it makes sense, (we would consider it).”

It makes sense for a company that, since it was founded in 1990, has prided itself on taking a holistic approach to care—from community support to clinical outcomes, said Hamman.

“We want to help solve problems for our kids in the home,” he said. “PHS is a unicorn in itself. There are not a lot of providers out there that specialize in the care that we do.”