Home care after hospital discharge in St. Louis starts with a phone call, and the call is easier when you know which door to knock on. This is a map, not a review. It lists, for each West County hospital a family in Ballwin, Chesterfield or Valley Park is likely to be sitting in, the public numbers and pages the hospital itself publishes, and then the county and city agencies that pick up once she is home. Every number here was read off the organization's own site on September 10, 2026.
How to use this map
Hospitals are maps, not villains, and every one below has people whose job is the conversation you need. Ask for them by role, not by name. The Family Caregiver Alliance's discharge guide puts it this way: some hospitals have a dedicated discharge planning manager on staff, but your point person could also be a social worker, nurse, or other hospital representative. The words that work at the desk are "discharge planner," "case manager" and "social worker." Federal rules say the hospital's discharge process must include you as an active partner, and that when it comes to after-care providers, the hospital must inform you of your freedom to choose among participating Medicare providers and must not specify or otherwise limit the qualified providers available. That last line is yours to use when it comes to who fills the non-medical hours: your choice, not the hospital's list.
Sources: Family Caregiver Alliance, Hospital Discharge Planning: A Guide for Families and Caregivers; eCFR, 42 CFR 482.43. Opened September 10, 2026.
The hospitals
Missouri Baptist Medical Center
A BJC hospital. Its public page lists it at 3015 N. Ballas Road, St. Louis, MO 63131, phone 314-996-5000, open 24 hours. Call the main number and ask for the case manager or social worker on her unit. If the discharge is happening, ask for the after-care instructions Missouri's CARE Act describes, below.
Mercy Hospital St. Louis
Mercy's location page lists it at 615 S. New Ballas Road, St. Louis, MO 63141, phone (314) 251-6000, and lists home health among the hospital's specialty services. Remember what that word means: home health is the visit kind of care, not the presence kind, and the page on home health versus home care explains the difference before you assume someone is coming tonight.
St. Luke's Hospital, Chesterfield
St. Luke's describes itself as a 493-bed full service acute care hospital in Chesterfield, at 232 S. Woods Mill Rd., Chesterfield, MO 63017, phone (314) 434-1500. Its Patients and Visitors section is where the general patient information lives; ask the main number for case management.
Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital
Also BJC. Its public page lists 12634 Olive Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63141, phone 314-996-8000, with a Patients and Visitors section and a patient guide. Same script: main number, her unit, the case manager.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital
The city campus, for families whose parent went downtown. Its patients and visitors page lists social work services among guest services, with general information at 314.747.3000. Social work is the door for discharge questions.
SSM Health St. Clare Hospital, Fenton
For families south and west, toward Eureka, Pacific and Valley Park. SSM Health's St. Clare Hospital page is in Fenton and prints a direct number for Social Services, 636-496-2629. SSM Health's system-wide patient rights page says patients have the right to take part in developing, implementing and revising their plan of care and discharge planning, including deciding about care options and choice of agencies.
Sources: BJC HealthCare, Missouri Baptist Medical Center; Mercy, Mercy Hospital St. Louis; St. Luke's, St. Luke's Hospital; BJC HealthCare, Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital; Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Patients and Visitors; SSM Health, St. Clare Hospital, Fenton and Patient Rights and Responsibilities. All opened September 10, 2026.
Missouri's CARE Act: get your name on the chart
Whichever hospital she is in, Missouri law gives you a formal place in the conversation. Section 191.1150 of the Missouri statutes, the CARE Act, says a hospital shall provide each patient with an opportunity to designate a caregiver after admission and before discharge, shall notify that caregiver of the discharge as soon as practicable, and, if the caregiver is willing, shall provide the discharge plan or after-care instructions and the opportunity to ask questions. It also says designation does not obligate any person to arrange or perform any after-care tasks. Ask to be designated. It costs nothing and it changes who the hospital has to call.
Source: Missouri Revisor of Statutes, RSMo 191.1150, opened September 10, 2026.
After the hospital: the county and city doors
- Aging Ahead, for St. Louis County, St. Charles, Franklin and Jefferson counties. One of ten Area Agencies on Aging in Missouri, serving adults 60 and older since 1973, with Meals on Wheels, senior centers, caregiving services and community options consulting. Ballwin, Chesterfield, Eureka, Valley Park and the rest of West County are in its territory.
- St. Louis Area Agency on Aging, for the City of St. Louis. (314) 612-5918.
- Missouri Senior Resource Line, 1-800-235-5503, which routes you to the right Area Agency on Aging by ZIP code.
- Missouri DHSS, Senior and Disability Services, whose home and community-based services are described as programs that help older adults live in their homes rather than moving to a nursing home. For in-home care under Medicaid, the state's own guide says to request services through the DSDS call center at 866-835-3505.
- United Way 211. United Way 211 is a 24/7 connection to agencies and resources nearby. Dial 211 for meals, rides and whatever else you have not thought of yet.
Sources: Aging Ahead, About Us; City of St. Louis, St. Louis Area Agency on Aging; Missouri DHSS, Area Agencies on Aging, Senior and Disability Services and Three Types of Care in the Home; United Way of Greater St. Louis, 211. Opened September 10, 2026.
What does "transitional care" on the paperwork mean?
Different hospitals use the phrase differently, and this desk will not define it for them. When you see it, ask the planner one question: "Which of Missouri's three types is this: home health, in-home care, or private pay?" Missouri's own description of the three is on one page, and every service you are offered fits one of them. Once you know which, you know who pays, who orders it and whether anyone is in the house at night.
Which hospital's home health agency do I have to use?
None in particular. The federal rule above says the hospital must inform you of your freedom to choose among participating Medicare providers and must not limit the qualified providers available to you. Some systems run their own; BJC's public home care site, for instance, describes home health and related in-home services operated by BJC. You may use it, or another, and the non-medical hours are a separate decision entirely.
Sources: eCFR, 42 CFR 482.43; BJC Home Care, public site. Opened September 10, 2026.
- Find her hospital above and write its main number on the folder.
- Ask to be designated as her caregiver under the CARE Act, and ask for the after-care instructions.
- Ask for the case manager or social worker by role. Say the script on the unsafe discharge page if the plan has a gap.
- Write down Aging Ahead or the city agency, depending on her address, for tomorrow morning.
- Decide who fills the non-medical hours. That choice is yours.
Every hospital on this map has a care team, and every clinical question about her, whether she is ready, what to watch for, what the drug list says, goes to them. This page is a phone directory. It has no opinion about any hospital, and it is not qualified to have one.