By DONALD R. SERFASS

dserfass@tnonline.comOne of the area's leading providers of hospital-based home health services will cease operations within the next few months.St. Luke's Hospital Home Health Care, which operates a facility at 801 East Broad St., Route 209 in Tamaqua will close its doors May 8, affecting 13 full-time and five part-time employees."We were told Monday that our jobs here were finished," said an employee.A subsidiary of St. Luke's Hospital-Miners Campus in Coaldale, the home health care line of business has been an integral part of the health care delivery system in the Tamaqua-Panther Valley region for at least two decades, advertising a promise to patients to "recover in the privacy and comfort of your own home."The home care division was first licensed on Oct. 26, 1993, according to online sources.The local unit has been the only hospital-based home health services functioning among six hospitals comprising the St. Luke's University Health Network, said President Bill Moyer on Friday.St. Luke's Home Health Care catered to patients who, for instance, had suffered a stroke, lost an arm or leg, developed degenerative conditions such as arthritis or encountered general weakness following an illness, injury or hospitalization.Diverse servicesAccording to its website, the home care division employs nurses, dietitians, physical, occupational and speech therapists, medical social workers and home health aides.The unit's skilled nursing staff administers catheter care, diabetic teaching and nutrition counseling, telemedicine, IV therapy, respiratory and cardiac care, total parenteral and enteral nutrition, venipuncture and wound care/dressing changes.The unit's rehabilitation services include occupational and physical therapy, rehabilitation nursing, speech therapy and nutritional counseling.Medical social work offered includes emotional, financial and social counseling, referrals to obtain necessary care and long-term planningThe agency's home health aides routinely help with light housekeeping in patient areas, personal care, such as bathing and feeding and turning/positioning.Patients using those services will need to find new providers.There are a few other home health entities covering the local area or parts of the local area.One is Blue Mountain Health Systems serving Carbon and eastern Schuylkill counties, along with western Monroe, upper Lehigh and Northampton counties.Another home health provider is Blue Mountain Home Health Care Inc., Pottsville, serving Schuylkill, Dauphin and Franklin counties and parts of Lehigh and Berks.PerformanceThe St. Luke's Home Care staff traditionally had direct access to all of the resources of St. Luke's Hospital-Miners Campus and St. Luke's University Health Network. Staff members typically worked with the patient's doctor to develop a plan of care.According to CiteHealth, a clearinghouse of information on health care providers, the nonprofit agency, known for years as St. Luke's Miners Memorial Home Care, serves 800 square miles, a geographic area of 180,000 residents.It was certified by Medicare in 1993.A total of 9,876 Medicare visits were made to 554 home care agency patients in 2006, according to CiteHealth.The provider was reimbursed $1,536,228 for those services, and some 386 Medicare patients were given outpatient care and services in that one year alone.In May, 2009, St. Luke's Miners Memorial Home Care announced it had been named to the 2008 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the most successful Medicare-certified home health care providers in the United States.The annual review identifies the top 25 percent of agencies.Rank is determined through analysis of performance measures in quality outcomes, quality improvement and financial performance.