Big Picture, continued
New Comprehensive Care Program Slated to Open in 2006
A partnership of five Kent County organizations is moving forward with plans for Care Resources, a comprehensive health care program for older adults who need assistance with chronic health conditions and activities of daily living. Now awaiting state and federal approval, Care Resources will be the second PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) program in Michigan and one of more than 30 PACE programs in 21 states around the country.
PACE programs provide a full array of healthcare services, including wellness, prevention and treatment programs delivered in home or in day centers as well as hospital and nursing home care. Participants receive individualized care, coordinated and delivered by a team comprised of health care and social work professionals who can address their unique health requirements.
The programs save costs, in large part by providing comprehensive service packages emphasizing preventive care in a community-based setting. Program funding comes largely from federal sources, primarily Medicaid and Medicare. Additional funding sources for the local program, Care Resources, include Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Steelcase Foundation, and the Heart of West Michigan United Way.
PACE programs serve individuals who are 55 or older and certified to need a nursing home level of care. However, as a result of the comprehensive services available through the program, only about seven percent of PACE participants nationally actually live in nursing homes. Nationally, PACE participants average 8+ chronic medical conditions, 6.8 medications, and difficulties with three or more activities of daily living, such as walking dressing, bathing or eating.
PACE provides all needed medical and supportive services, including
- Nursing, physical, occupational and recreational therapies, meals (at the day center or home-delivered meals), nutritional counseling, social work and personal care
- Medical care provided by a physician
- Home health care, personal care and chore services
- Prescription drugs
- Social Services
- Medical specialists such as dentistry, optometry and podiatry
- Hospital and nursing home care when necessary
- Transportation between participants’ homes and program sites.
The five organizations involved in the development of Care Resources in Kent County are Holland Home, the Dominican Center at Marywood, HHS Health Options, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, and Metropolitan Hospital. Following three years of planning, the group hopes to gain state and federal approval in time to begin enrolling participants in May 2006. The program site will be at Holland Home’s Fulton Street campus in Grand Rapids.
The PACE concept was developed in San Francisco in the early 1970s when a local group studied the feasibility of building a nursing home to serve Chinatown and surrounding neighborhoods. They soon realized that providing comprehensive health services in the community would be more financially feasible and culturally appropriate than a nursing home.
For more information about Care Resources, contact Denise Zoeterman, president and CEO of HHS Health Options and acting executive director of Care Resources, at 616-954-1503 or denisez@hhs-inc.com. For Michigan information about PACE programs, go to the Michigan Department of Community Health website at www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-2945_5100-87437--,00.html. Information about the PACE program nationally is available from the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services website at www.cms.hhs.gov/pace and the National PACE Association website at www.npaonline.org.