01
Skilled nursing visits
Assessments, symptom checks and teaching after a hospital stay.
Medicare
Home health · Hays, Kansas · Est. 1972
Fifty-some years of house calls on the high plains.
Nurses, therapists and aides who come to your home in Hays, Victoria, Russell, WaKeeney and La Crosse. Locally owned and Medicare-certified, from the same Main Street office since 1972.
A hometown institution
We've probably taken care of your grandmother.
The agency started in 1972, when a public health nurse named Rosemary Pfannenstiel began visiting patients home from the hospital in her own Buick. Families in Ellis County still tell us she delivered a pie with every discharge visit. Her daughter-in-law Joan runs the agency today, and Joan's son is one of our physical therapists.
A lot has changed: wound vacs, telehealth, a nurse on call all night. A lot hasn't. We still answer the phone on Main Street, we still drive the gravel roads out past Catharine and Antonino, and we still treat your kitchen table like the most important room in the county.
— Joan Pfannenstiel, RN, BSN, administrator
- 1972first home visit from Main Street
- 4counties across the high plains
- 38nurses, therapists and aides
- 3generations of Pfannenstiels on staff
What sets us apart
Where we shine
02
Medication management
Every bottle in the house reviewed against your doctor's list.
Medicare
03
Physical therapy
Strength, balance and walking on your own floors, steps and farmyard.
Medicare
Our team
The people at your door
Joan Pfannenstiel, RN, BSN
Administrator
Dr. Thomas Dreiling, MD
Medical Director
Carmen Ruiz, RN
Director of Nursing
Ben Pfannenstiel, PT, DPT
Therapy Director
Photo tour
Life on the high plains
Sample family reviews
Ellis County families
Rosemary took care of my grandmother in 1975. Joan's nurses took care of my mother last spring. That's this family.
Forty minutes of gravel to our place outside Ransom, twice a week, and they never once came late.
Ben had me back on the tractor by harvest. My wife wasn't sure that was a good thing.
Danielle healed a wound on Dad's foot that two clinics had given up on.
The night nurse knew Mom's whole history when I called at 2 a.m. We stayed home and she was fine.
Marlene sat at my kitchen table and filled out every KanCare page with me.
Gary brought a shower chair out the same afternoon I called. On a Saturday.
They talk to you like a neighbor, because they are one.
After Dad's stroke they had nursing, therapy and speech all working together. He's reading the paper again.
Care settings
Wherever home is out here
Same nurses, same standards, whether you live on Main Street or forty miles of gravel out.
01
In town
Brick bungalows near Main, ranch houses out by the college and everything in between.
- Nursing
- Therapy
- Aide visits
02
On the farm
Gravel drives, cattle guards and long routes planned so you never wait longer.
- Rural routes
- Lab draws at home
03
Senior apartments and assisted living
We work with community staff so skilled care comes to your apartment.
- Shared updates
- Medication review
04
With family for a while
Recovering at your daughter's in Russell? We'll visit you there.
- Caregiver teaching
- Equipment setup
Ratings & recognition · sample
- Community Choice · Best Home Health Agency
- Regional Business Journal · Family Business of the Year
- Area Agency on Aging · Community Partner
- County Chamber · Business of the Year
- Rural Health Association · Partner
- Regional Hospital Network · Preferred Partner
- Hometown Newspaper · Readers' Favorite
Insurance & payment
Paying for care
Our office checks your coverage before the first visit.
Original Medicare
Covers home health in full for homebound patients who qualify.
Medicare Advantage
We accept most plans in western Kansas and handle authorizations.
KanCare
Kansas Medicaid covers home health for eligible patients; our social worker helps.
Private insurance and VA
Most commercial plans and VA community care are welcome.
Activities & dining
Around Ellis County this month
Free clinics and classes our team leads around the four counties.
Mon
- Blood pressure checks, senior center
- Caregiver coffee, Main Street office
Tue
- Balance class, Victoria
Wed
- Diabetes Q&A, Russell
- Equipment closet open late
Thu
- Medicare questions by phone
- Stroke survivors' group
Fri
- Fall-prevention home checks
Sat
- Flu shot clinic, Main Street
Sun
- Blood pressure checks after church, WaKeeney
For families
For families
What to expect once we start coming to the house.
- 01
Your nurse's number
One case manager who knows your parent, and a direct line returned the same day.
- 02
Visit reminders
A call the evening before each visit, and a call if weather slows us down.
- 03
Join the visit
Families are welcome at every visit, in person or by phone.
- 04
After hours
A registered nurse answers every night and weekend.
Now hiring
A family-owned agency, good mileage pay and a team that's been together for decades.
Contact
Serving Ellis, Rush, Russell and Trego counties
- 1108 Main Street
Hays, KS
Angle parking on Main Street, or the lot behind the building off 11th. The back door is level. - (785) 555-0139
- Text us
- care@pfannenstielhh.example
- Pfannenstiel Family Home Health
Office & nurse line
- Office, Mon – Fri8a – 5p
- Intake by phone, Sat9a – noon
- Nurse line for patients24 hours
After hours, the main line rings the on-call registered nurse.
Neighbors taking care of neighbors.
Call the office, or ask your doctor or the hospital in Hays to send the referral to Pfannenstiel Family Home Health.