U.S. Army veteran Joe Hillyer started Homewatch CareGivers of Tacoma because he had a passion. Particularly, a passion to help those with Alzheimer’s after he watched his dad battle the disease, and cared for him. Generally, a passion to help seniors as they reach a time in their lives when things change and maybe they need more support, to whatever degree that may mean. 

 

In 2025, major changes will be taking place with Medicare and Medicaid. In anticipation of this, Hillyer has initiated a series of transitions within the company. “We’ve changed up what is in home care for seniors,” he said. What was originally three categories of care: personal care, companion care, or providing transportation, will be evolving into seven categories of care under the new system: active, wellness, personal, transition, care on demand, specialized, and private duty nursing. Each of these vary depending on the nature and intensity of the care needed. 

 

“There’s an incredible bunch of changes for plus-65 folks,” Hillyer said. “We’re the first homecare company in the industry to adjust to those changes.” As Hillyer explained, “for most people, active, wellness, and personal care are what they’re going to call us for.” Homewatch 

CareGivers Active Care offers reassurance for individuals and their loved ones with a light 

touch. It is non-intrusive but allows for increased communication between loved ones and minimized feelings of isolation. Wellness care “goes beyond typical companionship care. It is a broad range of services designed to ensure that individuals can live more independently while 

receiving the support they need to maintain and strengthen overall well-being.” 

 

Personal care involves “a helping hand” with daily activities to do with hygiene and mobility. In addition, Hillyer continued, “there’s transitional care for when they need a skilled nurse; care on demand for folks that don’t need much; and specialized care for things like Alzheimer’s.” The nice thing about the new setup in terms of specialized care is that now Hillyer’s team of caregivers can focus exclusively on this area without having to go back and forth between different types of care, tasks, and responsibilities. “This new stratification of how we do home care is designed to minimize some of the upfront costs, but also get seniors care more often.” 

 
This is a good thing, as the state of Washington has the highest cost per capita for health insurance in the country, and the second highest for senior care. To complicate matters, as a country, we are short on caregivers and healthcare workers, while the population of seniors is rising. For this reason, in March 2024, Hillyer and Homewatch opened a caregiver academy, something unique in the region. “We do training for caregivers, home care aids, and certified nursing assistants,” Joe informed us. “We’re authorized to do nurse delegation, where folks can be credentialed to work with diabetes and wound care (for instance).” In order to draw in caregivers from a greater area, and remote, less urban areas, Homewatch is also running a class over at the Mustard Seed Project on the Key Peninsula.  

 

Hillyer’s brain is always seeking ways to ease the load for seniors – and following through. One of the new initiatives he is most excited about is a virtual care system called Homewatch Connect. As Hillyer explained, the upcoming changes in Medicare/Medicaid are going to introduce “a lot more telehealth.” To that end, Homewatch Connect is a new technology tool that turns an individual’s television into a way to communicate with doctors, family, and friends. “It’s very simple to use,” Hillyer assured. “It turns your TV into a big communications platform.” As many seniors are in front of the television often, this is an ideal way to increase their ability to connect and “remedy some of the isolation that seniors feel,” Hillyer said. It comes with a remote that is very easy to use, and will eventually also include attachments that can read blood pressure, take temperature, and identify when a person has had a fall. Right now, the costs are paid out of pocket (although not too bad, $75), but once the new rollout occurs, it should be included in some of the Medicaid Advantage plans. “We’re the first ones to do this,” Hillyer said proudly.  

 

Hillyer’s philanthropy on the part of seniors has not gone unnoticed. He was recently named the Gig Harbor Rotarian of the Year. With friend Gary Parker, owner of BBQ2U in Gig Harbor, he also has a nonprofit called Olympic Civic Services (OCS), which is the best place to go if you want to help support what Hillyer and Homewatch do. OCS spearheads several senior activities such as BBQ Bingo Nights on Tuesdays, Senior Movies on Fridays, and a program where local authors and artists come to talk to seniors about their books and their art.  

 

Being a veteran, Hillyer stays active with other veterans. Every year, he helps the committee for Gig Harbor’s Veteran’s Day Celebration, and this year will be helping Heritage Distilling with their Special Operations Salute (Hillyer retired as a Major in the Special Forces after over 20 years in service). On the home front, Hillyer is proud of his two kids, one of whom is a junior studying Aerospace Engineering at the University of Washington, and the other who is a sophomore at Washington State University, pursuing a degree in Psychology.  

 

Hillyer’s enthusiasm and passion for helping veterans and seniors is a bright and shining thing when you talk to him. It radiates from him and he acknowledges this as one of the most rewarding aspects of his life. Being able to help those senior members of the community when things in their life change and they need assistance, is what he lives to be able to do. “They were there for us when we needed them and now’s our time to be there for them.”