RHSHC Hospice, Home Health, & Public Health

RHSHC Hospice, Home Health, & Public Health Community Health Services include hospice, home health, & public health. Home Health & Public Health serve primarily Howard County.

Howard County Community Hospice serves Howard, Winneshiek, Chickasaw, & parts of Floyd, Fayette, & Mitchell Counties.

Did you know that social workers are the largest group of mental health care providers in the US? This National Social W...
03/05/2026

Did you know that social workers are the largest group of mental health care providers in the US? This National Social Work Month, our social worker, Brecka, shares why she loves working at Community Health Services (CHS):

1. I have the opportunity to make things a little less hard for someone every day. Whether I’m helping a hospice patient with limited mobility find a meaningful way to interact with canine Kinnick, teaching new long term care facility staff how to have better outcomes with patients who are living with dementia, or empowering clergy members with tools to support congregation members in a mental health crisis, I know I’m helping CHS make a difference in the communities we serve.

2. We have the best team! Our nurses, aides, volunteers, and other staff are smart, compassionate, team players that make working here feel like family. In addition to great humans, our crew includes three dogs, and one is my sweet Kinnick.

3. We get to have a lot of fun with our hospice patients! Whether it’s dropping off a milkshake from the The Mighty Howard County Fair, taking patients on a tour of Trout Run Trail in Decorah with Decorah Rotary Club once a year, or going to Cresco Community Theatre’s dress rehearsal of “Wizard of Oz,” we provide lots of opportunities for laughing, joy, and memory making.

Thank you to all the social workers we work with for all you do!

Our hospice crew promises that we will be there for you on the bad days. And the good days. And every day in between. On...
03/04/2026

Our hospice crew promises that we will be there for you on the bad days. And the good days. And every day in between.

On the celebration days we may even bring pickle socks and funny books!

Happy birthday, dear friend. Thank you for letting us be part of your days.

Meet the New Staff: Laura EllingsonPlease help us welcome Laura, our administrative assistant at Community Health Servic...
03/04/2026

Meet the New Staff: Laura Ellingson

Please help us welcome Laura, our administrative assistant at Community Health Services!

Laura started working at the Regional Health Services of Howard County ER registration desk in July of 2024 and we're excited that she made the transition to our team this year!

Laura has been married to her husband, Randy, for 34 years! They have two sons. Reid is married to Natalie and they have three "awesome grandchildren" according to Laura. Owen is engaged to marry Averi.

Laura loves the outdoors, especially fishing, walking, traveling, and gardening. We are so happy to have her!

This weekend Regional Health Services of Howard County will be celebrating all of our employees who have retired or reac...
02/27/2026

This weekend Regional Health Services of Howard County will be celebrating all of our employees who have retired or reached career milestones with us. We would like to give a special shout out to those employees who are serving on or retired while serving on the hospice, home health, and/or public health teams:

Ann Sullivan was a major part of our "Just for Feet" program for years, and is dearly missed by her patients already. Congratulations on your retirement!

Dr. Paul Jensen served many roles at Regional Health Services, but to us he was the Assistant Medical Director of Howard County Community Hospice when he retired. Thanks for always being ready to pitch in when needed!

Nikky Shimek serves as a hospice and home health nurse, and leads the hospice team as our hospice lead. When she's not seeing patients, you can find her helping with admissions and all the behind the scenes items that make our hospice great. Congratulations and thank you for 15 years of service!

Lisa Kammerer is our hospice chaplain and newly appointed hospice volunteer coordinator. She also pitches in with marketing, and may be most recognized as handler of one of our hospice dogs, C.C. Congratulations and thank you for ten years of service!

Michelle Rice is relatively new to the home health and hospice team, but has been a familiar face around Regional Health Service for ten years total! Thanks for for jumping right in with kindness and expertise! Congratulations on your ten year milestone!

Our hospice crew provides grief support activities for the entire community, regardless of how or where the person they ...
02/25/2026

Our hospice crew provides grief support activities for the entire community, regardless of how or where the person they are missing died. We are grateful to have received a donation of grief books for children so we can better support mourners of all ages.

If you know a child who is missing someone special and would like a copy of this book, email brecka.putnam@rhshc.com or call 563-547-2989.

Our public health social worker recently provided QPR Su***de Prevention training to almost 40 staff at Regional Health ...
02/24/2026

Our public health social worker recently provided QPR Su***de Prevention training to almost 40 staff at Regional Health Services of Howard County. This training empowers our team to identify people who may be in a mental health crisis, ask the questions needed to determine their risk, and refer them to someone who can help. Our team is now even better prepared to meet the mental health needs of our patients, friends, and neighbors, both while we’re working and when we’re out in the community!

If your business or group would like free QPR training, please email brecka.putnam@rhshc.com or call 563-547-2989.

Saturday snuggles at The Highlands Senior Living Communities!
02/21/2026

Saturday snuggles at The Highlands Senior Living Communities!

02/20/2026

Do you know someone who is grieving, and you're not sure how to help? Our hospice crew frequently provides community grief support, whether it's a full on support group, or sharing a little nugget that might be helpful on Facebook (like this). This clip on grief may help you better support a loved one going through tough stuff:

Howard County Hospice, Home Health, and Public Health is closed today, Friday, February 20, due to weather. Home health ...
02/20/2026

Howard County Hospice, Home Health, and Public Health is closed today, Friday, February 20, due to weather. Home health and hospice patients, your nurse will contact you regarding scheduled visits. Hospice patients who need immediate assistance can still call our on-call number 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Every day our crew is thankful for the outstanding support we receive from the communities we serve! Our friends at Notr...
02/19/2026

Every day our crew is thankful for the outstanding support we receive from the communities we serve! Our friends at Notre Dame Catholic School also sent some sweet items for our team, including this special chain that is now decorating our office. Each day we end our morning huddle with a message of encouragement from the students. Thanks for helping us start each day in a positive way!

Our patients feel so loved this month, thanks to our friends at Notre Dame Catholic School - Cresco, IA! Our wonderful a...
02/18/2026

Our patients feel so loved this month, thanks to our friends at Notre Dame Catholic School - Cresco, IA! Our wonderful aides have been delivering heartfelt cards from the kids to our patients over the last week. Thanks to the kids and staff for making their days!

Did you know that our hospice crew provides care for our patients physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually? Th...
02/18/2026

Did you know that our hospice crew provides care for our patients physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually? This happens at their home, whether that is in a house or apartment, a family member’s home, a long term care facility, or in assisted living. This Ash Wednesday, our chaplain, Lisa, is traveling throughout our service area offering ashes and blessings to patients and their families who want them. This makes it easier for them to practice their religion of choice, even when getting around may be difficult.

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235 8th Avenue W
Cresco, IA
52136

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Howard County Community Hospice & Home Health

Community Health Services: These services include skilled nursing, therapy, public health, community-based services, home care, and homemaker services.

Howard County Community Hospice: We aim to serve individuals, their loved ones and community in order to ensure dignity, compassion and peace in all end of live services. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for terminally ill individuals and their loved ones by providing physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual support before, during and following the patients death. We strive to educate the community about hospice services and the grieving process.