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September 22, 2007 - Clarion Herald
PACE Center helps elderly stay at home longer
By Christine Bordelon
The New Orleans area now has a comprehensive senior health and day care center with the recent opening of the Shirley Landry Benson PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) Center at the former St. Cecilia Church on North Rampart Street.
“We are the first PACE site in Louisiana,” said Stephanie Smith, executive director. “This is an alternative to nursing home care.” PACE Greater New Orleans is a collaboration among Catholic Charities, Ochsner Health System and Daughters of Charity (for primary care physician services). It is open to Jefferson, Orleans and St. Bernard residents 55 and older, including those with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
The 20,000-square-foot facility is a one-stop shop for the elderly, Smith said. It offers adult day care with activities and meals, and supportive services such as primary health care, rehabilitation (occupational, physical and speech therapy), a pharmacy providing all medications, dentist’s office, emergency medicine, transportation to and from the center and doctor visits in an effort to allow the elderly to remain at home as long as possible instead of entering a nursing home.
“It’s very similar to a full-service health plan with added disciplinary components,” Smith said. By having needed services under one roof, Smith said it alleviates some caregiver burdens by reducing doctor visits. The one-site physician and the interdisciplinary staff of 22 coordinates total participant care from doctors’ appointments to rehabilitation, medications and medical records. Caregivers are continually updated on participants’ progress, and, in addition, PACE plans to start a monthly caregiver support groups.
“We are really unique,” Smith said. “We have people working on site with participants every day, assessing their abilities. We can see any changes in their behavior and notice declines.” While the center is interdenominational, its unique configuration inside a former Catholic church with tall ceilings, ornate columns, woodwork and stained glass offers a serene, inspirational environment. “I think it’s enlightening to a lot of our participants,” Smith said.
“I like it a lot,” Oliver Davenport, 67, of New Orleans said on a recent afternoon at the center as he completed a word puzzle with fellow client Maxine Evans, 60. “The people are courteous, and if something happens you have a doctor here.”
Its partnership with Catholic Charities Archdiocese New Orleans also affords participants an easy transition from day care to long-term nursing care at Chateau de Notre Dame, if needed, as well as a myriad of social services through the Catholic Charities network, Smith said.
The collaboration with Ochsner provides specialty physician care, emergency care and hospitalization. “We’re caring for those who cared for us,” said Aziza Landrum, a social worker and center marketing director, echoing the center’s slogan.
Since opening earlier this month, 47 people have applied and several have completed the paperwork and assessment process at the center and at home and have been using the center. The current capacity is 96 participants.
“It’s a pretty involved process,” Smith said of the assessments. “If you have Medicare and/or Medicaid, there is no cost to the client.” The private-pay option also is available. In-home assessments, which could include as many as three before a participant is accepted, Landrum said, involve walking around the home where a participant lives to implement necessities including railings in the bathroom or hall or even wheelchairs so a person can remain at home.
“We provide a lot of the things in the home that other plans would not,” Smith said.
PACE Greater New Orleans is one of approximately 38 PACE centers in 26 states, Smith estimated. The PACE model of all-inclusive, elderly care began in the early 1970s in San Francisco. By 2008, another 30 are slated to open, Smith said. A PACE Center on the West Bank is in the planning stages, and the Franciscans are planning PACE Centers in Baton Rouge and Monroe.
“So many people have looked for alternative care for so long,” Smith said. “We want to help keep the elderly at home as long as possible and provide support services.” Smith said the center provides a comfort level for families, knowing that their elderly loved one is well cared for.
“I think it’s a calming presence (for the neighborhood) knowing that their community cares for its elderly,” Smith said.
“This will definitely be the future of elderly care,” Landrum said. “Who wouldn’t want to stay at home if they could?”
Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org.
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