A medically stable parent should not spend every afternoon alone at home, especially in Suffolk’s quieter neighborhoods where neighbors have moved or passed and family lives across Hampton Roads. Companion care fills those long hours with presence, conversation, and gentle structure.
Caregivers handle errands, appointment rides, medication reminders, and meal prep. The goal is connection and safety, not a checklist. Remote family members in Newport News or out of state can follow along through our Transparency Room portal, which shows visit notes after each shift.
Hands-on help with bathing, dressing, grooming, mobility, and toileting is usually the first step for a Suffolk parent who wants to stay home as the years stack up. Our personal care starts where family help runs out and where independence starts to slip.
Caregivers follow a care plan built around your loved one’s daily routine, personal care needs, and the layout of the home. Every caregiver is matched by personality and screened through our documented process. The same caregiver returns visit after visit, so a parent in Driver or Whaleyville is not meeting a stranger every morning.
Laundry piles up, the fridge empties, and a once-tidy home in Hillpoint or Burbage Grant stops feeling manageable for an aging loved one. Homemaker care restores the basics: light cleaning, laundry, meal preparation, and grocery runs.
Respite hours give the family caregiver a real break. A spouse or adult child who has been carrying the load for months can rest, sleep, or simply leave the house without worrying. We schedule respite around your life, not ours, with overnight and weekend availability.
When part-time visits stop being enough, live-in and 24-hour care keep your loved one in familiar surroundings instead of moving into a facility. This works well for Suffolk families dealing with advancing dementia, post-surgery recovery, or end-stage chronic illness where someone needs to be present at all times.
Our team builds a coverage rotation that protects caregivers from burnout and your loved one from the disruption of a revolving door. We handle the scheduling, the backup coverage when a caregiver is sick, and the ongoing oversight.
Memory changes inside a familiar Suffolk home are frightening for everyone in the family, and routine matters more than people realize. Our dementia home care services keep that routine intact while protecting your loved one’s dignity and safety.
Caregivers are trained in handling sundowning, behavioral shifts, repetitive questions, and the wandering risk that comes with progression. The same caregiver returns each visit, which lowers anxiety and resistance. This is the flagship specialty of our Virginia Beach office and one of the most requested services across Suffolk Virginia.
Alzheimer’s progresses on its own timeline, and the right care today is often not the right care six months from now. Our Alzheimer’s care adjusts as the disease advances, from companion-style support in early stages to full personal care in later ones.
Caregivers focus on safety, comfort, and orientation. We coordinate with hospice when families reach that point, and we coordinate with home health nurses or skilled nursing visits when those are part of the plan. The goal is to keep your loved one home for as long as it is safe and humane.
Preferred Care at Home of Virginia Beach has been locally owned and operated by Deck Hankins since May 2020, serving Suffolk and the wider Hampton Roads community from our office at 1520 Stonemoss Ct, Suite 103, Virginia Beach. We carry Virginia Department of Health license #142229-8080 / HCO-201500. Home Care Pulse named us Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice in both 2023 and 2024, and Leader in Experience in 2024.
Suffolk families choose us for a few specific reasons. Our trained caregivers come in with documented, verified experience, and we do not place entry-level workers in a senior’s home. Caregivers are matched by personality and interests, not assigned by who is available the day you call. We handle Long Term Care insurance claim filing and help eliminate the elimination period on most plans, which is where many families get stuck. We are VA-contracted, which matters here in Hampton Roads where the veteran population is one of the largest in the country.
We also know what we are not. We are non-medical, which means we do not do skilled nursing visits, wound care, or medication management. When those are needed, we coordinate alongside the home health agency, hospice team, or Bon Secours home care nurses already involved. Families who searched for “Bon Secours home care” or another home health agency and ended up needing daily companion or personal care often find us through that gap, because home health and home care are different services with different funding and different rules. We explain the difference plainly, and we file the LTC paperwork that pays for what Medicare will not.
Across our home care services, the goal is the same: keep your loved one safe, comfortable, and in their own home, with caregivers your family can trust.
Step 01
Call Deck or the team at (757) 355-5080. We listen first; there is no script.
Step 02
A free in-home assessment in Suffolk covers what your loved one needs, the daily routine, the layout of the home, and any insurance documentation. We help determine which services fit and manage the paperwork so your family does not have to.
Step 03
We match a caregiver by personality and schedule, then start visits on your timeline. Most Suffolk families can begin within a week of the assessment.
Step 04
Care plans flex as needs shift. Your family sees updates through the Transparency Room portal, and we adjust the plan as the situation evolves.
Suffolk’s mix of historic downtown blocks, suburban subdivisions, and rural farmland out toward Isle of Wight and Southampton means home care looks different from one neighborhood to the next.
Challenge
What It Looks Like
How We Help
Rural distance and transportation
What It Looks Like
A loved one in Whaleyville or Holland is 20 to 30 minutes from Sentara Obici Hospital, and a non-driving senior cannot get to follow-up appointments alone
How We Help
Companion care includes appointment transportation across Suffolk and into Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake when specialists are involved
Challenge
Hurricane season and summer humidity
What It Looks Like
Hampton Roads heat and storm prep are real safety risks for an elderly parent living alone, especially in lower-lying parts of the city
How We Help
Personal care and companion care services help with hydration, safe movement, and storm-week check-ins
Challenge
Confusion between home care and home health
What It Looks Like
Families search for “Bon Secours home care” or call a home health agency and learn Medicare will not pay an aide to bathe and cook day to day
How We Help
We explain the difference, coordinate alongside skilled nursing visits when those are ordered, and provide the daily personal care and companion care home health does not
Challenge
Long Term Care insurance paperwork
What It Looks Like
A policy sits in a drawer because no one wants to deal with the elimination period and the claim filing process
How We Help
We file LTC claims on your behalf and help eliminate the elimination period on most plans across personal care and companion care
Challenge
Hospital discharge with no plan
What It Looks Like
A loved one is discharged from Sentara Obici or Bon Secours Maryview on a Friday with a binder of instructions and no one home to follow them
How We Help
Personal care and companion care begin immediately, with medication reminders, meal prep, and follow-up appointment logistics through the first recovery week
Challenge
Veteran households and Aid and Attendance
What It Looks Like
A surviving spouse in Suffolk qualifies for VA support but does not know it, or the application has stalled
How We Help
We are VA-contracted, walk families through Aid and Attendance eligibility, and staff veteran cases on an accelerated timeline
Challenge
Hiring an unscreened caregiver online
What It Looks Like
Independent caregivers found on classifieds pages are not always screened, bonded, or insured, and a fall leaves the family with no recourse
How We Help
Our caregivers are experienced-only referrals screened through a documented 7-step process, with backup coverage when a regular caregiver is out
Challenge
Waiting until crisis
What It Looks Like
Families delay because Mom is “fine,” until a fall or wandering episode forces a same-week decision with no time to vet anyone
How We Help
The free assessment is fast, and initial visits across Suffolk can usually start within a week
We serve families across Suffolk and the surrounding communities, from the historic downtown to the rural northern and western reaches of the city.
We Serve:
Preferred Care at Home of Virginia Beach is a locally owned and operated senior home care agency founded in May 2020 by Deck Hankins and headquartered at 1520 Stonemoss Ct, Suite 103, Virginia Beach, VA 23462. We provide non-medical in-home care across Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, and the wider Hampton Roads area. Virginia Department of Health license #142229-8080 / HCO-201500. VA-contracted for veteran care. Recognized by Home Care Pulse as Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice in 2023 and 2024, and Leader in Experience in 2024. We serve Suffolk families with dignity and independence as our foundation.
Yes. Preferred Care at Home of Virginia Beach serves Suffolk in full, from downtown Suffolk and North Suffolk to the rural stretches near the Isle of Wight and Southampton county lines.
Our team works out of the Virginia Beach office at 1520 Stonemoss Ct and covers Suffolk daily. To get started, call (757) 355-5080 or use the contact form on our site, and we will schedule your free in-home assessment at a time that works for your family. Most Suffolk families can begin services within a week of that visit.
We offer companion care, personal care, homemaker and respite care, live-in and 24-hour care, dementia care, and Alzheimer’s care across Suffolk, plus veteran care, transition care, and end-of-life support.
Most Suffolk families start with personal care or companion care, then layer in memory care or veteran-specific support as needs change. We also provide the Transparency Room portal so adult children in Newport News, out of state, or stationed elsewhere can see what happened on each visit. Seniors who want to stay independent in their own homes often begin with companion or homemaker care before moving into hands-on personal care.
Home care is non-medical daily support like bathing, meals, and companionship. Home health is clinical care like skilled nursing visits and physical therapy, usually ordered by a doctor and sometimes covered by Medicare.
Families in Suffolk who search for “Bon Secours home care” or another home health agency are often looking for what is actually home care: someone to be there during the day, help with personal care, drive to appointments, and keep the household running. A home health agency provides skilled nursing visits, wound care, and therapy under a doctor’s order. Preferred Care at Home is non-medical, and we coordinate alongside any home health team already involved so nothing falls through the cracks for the patients we serve.
Medicare pays for short-term skilled home health services under specific conditions but does not pay for non-medical companion or personal care in Suffolk.
Medicare covers home health services when a doctor orders them after a qualifying event and the person is homebound, usually involving home health aides working alongside a nursing or therapy plan. It does not cover ongoing companion care, homemaker care, or personal care. Those care services are typically paid through private funds, Long Term Care insurance, VA benefits, or Virginia’s CCC Plus Waiver.
Yes. Transition care and personal care cover the first days home after a discharge from Sentara Obici Hospital, Bon Secours Maryview, Sentara Norfolk General, or another Hampton Roads facility.
Recovery after surgery often needs hands-on help that family cannot always provide, especially during the first week home. Caregivers handle mobility, meals, medication reminders, and rides to follow-up appointments, which reduces avoidable trips back to the hospital. Many loved ones appreciate having a familiar caregiver manage the recovery week so the family can focus on being family.
Yes. We are VA-contracted, staff veteran cases quickly, and help Suffolk families understand Aid and Attendance and surviving spouse eligibility.
Suffolk and the wider Hampton Roads area hold one of the largest veteran populations in the country. Aid and Attendance is a benefit many veterans and surviving spouses qualify for but do not know about. We walk families through eligibility, help with the paperwork, and get a caregiver in the home on an accelerated timeline through our direct VA contract.
Cost depends on the type of care, hours per week, and whether Long Term Care insurance, VA benefits, or Virginia Medicaid CCC Plus applies. Call us for a free in-home assessment.
Hourly rates vary by service and schedule, and overnight or live-in coverage costs differently than a few hours a week of companion support. Long Term Care insurance often covers a meaningful portion of in-home care, and we file the claim on your behalf. The CCC Plus Waiver and VA Aid and Attendance are two other payment pathways we walk Suffolk families through during the assessment.
