A home health business operating throughout the Big Horn Basin is under new, but familiar, ownership.

Lisa Bellmyer and her husband Jerry took over Hands 2 Help, based in Cody, in February from founder Coralie Herrick. Bellmyer, who started working as the administrator for the company in 2014 after working for years as an RN in home health, said they had planned to buy the business in 2020, but COVID-19 put that on hold. Then Herrick had health issues and had to move out of state, which put the sale back into focus.

“We were in talks a month before Covid hit, but when Covid hit that halted everything,” Bellmyer said. “We felt now was the time.”

She said the business plans to operate much the same as it has, while expanding services to Worland and Thermopolis, as the rest of the Basin is already mostly covered.

“There’s a big need down there, so that is in the works, hopefully this summer,” she said. “There’s such a need for it, so many that don’t have family at all, or family in the area able and willing to help. Keeping people in their home as long as they safely can, that’s what everybody wants.”

Hands 2 Help was founded in 1999 by Herrick in response to a need for regulated private duty services for residents of Big Horn and Park counties. Before joining the team, Bellmyer had worked as a home health nurse in Illinois for six years.

Now, she leads a team that includes two nurses and 15 caregivers, some of whom are CNAs and some companions. She said one thing in particular makes the business stand apart in much of the areas where it operates.

“The biggest thing we pride ourselves in is we are the only independent, state licensed home health agency,” she said. “There are a lot of private people who do it, but it’s worthy to note we are state licensed. We have rules and regulations we have to adhere to, follow. It sets us aside and apart from the other people.”