A hospital bed for a home often arrives in parts, with a frame, a motor, rails, and a set of controls that must be fitted and checked before anyone lies on it. Someone has to do that work. Whether it is the family, the supplier's driver, or a helper you hire is a choice you can make on purpose, or one that the delivery slip makes for you.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Ask the supplier what the delivery includes
Ask in writing whether the delivery includes assembly, a check that the controls respond, and a walk-through of the rails and brakes with someone in the room. Ask whether the driver will take away the packing material. If the answer is that the bed comes in boxes and the driver leaves, then the family has agreed to do the setup, whether or not anyone said so out loud.
Be honest about what the family can do
Count the adults who are free on the delivery day, and ask whether the job needs more than one of them. Check that the floor is level, that the route from the door to the room is clear, and that the outlet is where the bed will need it. Keep the manufacturer's instructions open on the bed while you work, and do not build from memory of the diagram. Check each pin, latch, and rail before anyone leans on it. If a part is missing, bent, or does not seat, stop and call the supplier before going on.
What to ask a hired helper
If you hire a handyman or a moving crew, ask whether they have set up this type of bed before. Ask whether they will work from the manufacturer's instructions with you present, and whether they will leave the controls tested and the manual in the room. Ask whether their insurance covers damage to the bed or the walls during setup, and get that answer in writing before the day. You can find local help through the Local Help for Hospice Families page on this site, but ask each person the same questions.
Compare the two honestly
Doing it yourself costs time, tools, and the evening of a second adult. Hiring it out costs money and a scheduled window that someone has to be home for. Neither choice is wrong. What goes wrong is leaving the bed in the living room for a night while everyone assumes someone else will build it. Write the decision on the delivery paper: who sets it up, when, and who checks the controls before the bed is used.
Once that is settled, the rest of the day is simple. Clear the room, confirm the bed fits the route, and decide where the head of the bed and the nearest outlet will sit. A bed that is set up on a known day, by a known person, with the paper signed, is one less thing to figure out at two in the morning.