If you have found yourself searching for a “hospital bed at home”, you are probably sorting out care for someone you love, and quietly hoping their bedroom does not have to end up looking like a ward. That is exactly the worry we hear most, and the good news is you have far more choice than you might think.
A hospital bed, often called a home care bed or a hi-lo bed, is simply a bed that rises and lowers and adjusts at the press of a button to make care safer and easier. The clinical look is optional. At Mobility Co in Cheltenham, we specialise in beds that give you every bit of that safety and function while still looking and feeling like a proper piece of bedroom furniture. Here is how to choose the right one, and how we can help across Melbourne.
In short: Mobility Co supplies hospital and home care beds across Melbourne, including adjustable and homely designs made to suit a bedroom rather than a clinical setting. See them at our Cheltenham showroom at 2/136 Keys Road, or call 1300 225 203. We work with NDIS, Home Care Package, Support at Home and private customers.
The words get used loosely, so let us make it clear. A hospital bed, a home care bed and a hi-lo bed are usually the same idea: a bed whose whole frame lifts up and down (that is the “hi-lo” part), with a back rest and legs that also raise. The height adjustment is the feature that sets it apart from an ordinary adjustable bed. It lowers close to the floor to reduce the risk and impact of a fall, and it rises to a comfortable working height so a partner or carer is not bending and straining their back. Many also tilt (called Trendelenburg positioning) to help with repositioning, and can take a pressure care mattress and side rails where needed. A good pressure care mattress helps spread the load so someone resting for long stretches is not pressing on the same spots, and Victoria’s Better Health Channel lists pressure relieving mattresses and regular changes of position among the everyday ways to help prevent pressure sores.
In other words, when people search for a hospital bed for the home, what they usually want is a safe, supportive, adjustable bed for someone with real care needs. That is precisely what our home care range is built to do.
We carry a considered range rather than an overwhelming wall of options, so it is easier to find the right fit. Here are four we come back to again and again, from a great value hi-lo through to our most homely.
A genuine hi-lo bed at a friendly price. The whole platform adjusts from 230mm up to 650mm for easier transfers and a comfortable carer height, with back and head tilt, Trendelenburg positioning and gentle vibration for comfort. From around $2,995.
The one you can make your own. Full hi-lo function from 22cm to 66cm in an upholstered bed you can tailor with a choice of colours, finishes and accessories to suit the room. Head and knee adjustment and Trendelenburg positioning give you the care functions, in a bed that still looks like furniture. From around $3,775.
Our most fully featured bed, pairing in-home care function, positioning and low-height safety with a genuinely contemporary, furniture-like look. It is also the one for couples, sitting beautifully side by side so partners can stay together, each adjusting their own side. From around $3,995.
When a fall from bed is the main worry, this one lowers to just 11cm from the floor to minimise the impact, with a sturdy 250kg capacity. A reassuring choice for higher care needs. From around $4,495.
You can browse the full range on our Home Care Beds and Adjustable Beds pages, and we can source many more on request. If you are weighing up a comfort adjustable bed against a full care bed, our plain-English guide on adjustable beds versus hospital beds walks you through it.
A few things make the real difference between a bed that helps and one that just takes up space. Height range matters most: a good hi-lo bed should drop low enough for safety and rise high enough to save a carer’s back. Look for independent back and leg raise for comfort, breathing and circulation, and Trendelenburg tilt if repositioning is part of daily care. Check the safe working load suits the person, and whether it takes a pressure care mattress and side rails should they be needed down the track. And do not overlook the look and feel, because a bed that suits the room is a bed the whole household lives with more happily.
Home care beds are often funded. Under the NDIS they are usually considered assistive technology, and Home Care Package funds can frequently be put towards them too. We are happy to talk you through your options in plain English and provide a clear written quote you can pass to your planner, coordinator or occupational therapist. You can read more on our funding page, or just ask us.
We are a family owned business based in Cheltenham, and we deliver and set up home care beds across Melbourne, with a special soft spot for our Bayside and south-east neighbours. The easiest way to choose is to lie on a few, so you are very welcome to visit our showroom with no appointment needed, or we can bring options to your home for a free demonstration so you can see how they suit your space and your doorways. No pressure either way.
Mobility Co, Cheltenham. Unit 2, 136 Keys Road, Cheltenham VIC 3192. Call 1300 225 203, or just walk in.
Categories, guides and support that pair with choosing a bed for home. If you only need a bed for a few weeks, for recovery or respite, we also offer hospital bed hire in Melbourne.
In everyday use, yes. They all describe a bed whose frame raises and lowers and adjusts for care and safety. “Hospital bed” is just the phrase most people search for. Our home care beds do the same job while looking like normal bedroom furniture.
Yes, and it is what we do best. Beds like our iCare IC333 and Aspire Activ Care offer full hi-lo safety and positioning in an upholstered, furniture-like design that belongs in a real bedroom.
Our hi-lo home care beds start from around $2,995, and rise from there depending on the features, finish and accessories you choose. Because funding often applies, we give you a clear written quote so you know exactly where you stand. Just ask and we will sort it quickly.
Often, yes. Under the NDIS a home care bed is usually classed as assistive technology, and Home Care Package funds can frequently be used too. We can provide the written quote and details your planner or coordinator needs.
Yes. We deliver and set up across Melbourne from our Cheltenham showroom, and we are especially well placed for Bayside and the south-east. We can also bring a bed to your home for a free demonstration first.
That is a big part of the point. Lowering the bed close to the floor reduces the risk and impact of a fall, while raising it and tilting towards sitting makes getting up easier and safer, and kinder on a carer’s back.
Related reading: How to reduce falls at home and our Bayside home safety guide.
Daylan Kempster is an assistive technology specialist and the director of Mobility Co, a family owned mobility equipment showroom in Cheltenham, Melbourne. He has close to ten years of experience in the assistive technology and healthcare sector, gained across several companies, working with older Australians managing the changes of ageing, younger people living with disability, and people who need the right equipment for a short time while they recover from surgery. He writes these guides from hands on experience helping families choose beds, chairs, scooters and walkers that suit a real home. Connect with Daylan on LinkedIn.
Related: bed rails and bed sticks in Melbourne for added support and safety at the bedside.
