I feel compelled to write this letter to remind everyone of a treasure we have in Lunenburg County: the Lunenburg Health Service (LHS), at the corner of 6th Street and Washington Avenue in Victoria. In particular, I wish to highlight its home health equipment “loaner” program.

As a physical therapist working in home health, I have found it increasingly difficult to obtain through insurance coverage much-needed home health equipment for my patients. Imagine my dismay the first time I called up a medical equipment company to obtain a bedside commode for a patient who had just come home from the hospital with a fractured hip and was told Medicare would not pay for it because there was a bathroom on the same floor as the patient’s bedroom. The fact that the patient couldn’t walk that far was not a consideration.

To pay out-of-pocket for these items can be very expensive, but did you know — if you are a resident of Lunenburg County you may borrow used medical equipment from LSH free of charge, use it for the time that you need, and then return it to them for someone else to borrow?

I encourage everyone to consider donating no longer used home health equipment to this worthy organization. The $10 dollars the item might bring at a yard sale is little compared to the satisfaction of knowing you’ve helped someone in need in the community.

Angie B. Tharpe, Victoria