When seniors need extra care, nursing homes may not be the ideal solution that fits both their needs and wishes. Fortunately for Northwest Indiana seniors, the first floor of Franciscan Health’s Homer St. Campus in Michigan City has been renovated to house the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), an alternative to a nursing home.
PACE is a government program designed to help seniors continue their independent living and is recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Serves that Franciscan Health is proud to introduce to the State of Indiana.
“There are only 31 states across the country who have PACE,” said PACE Center Manager Melissa DeSutter. “The states have to opt-in versus things like Medicare and Medicaid, which are in every single state. Franciscan was the first to introduce PACE to the State of Indiana, so Franciscan’s really been a pioneer in terms of getting this started here.”
The PACE Center opened its doors this January and features a medical clinic, a day center program for socialization, and outpatient therapy areas. PACE also provides transportation, dietary, and social work offerings and will even provide home safety services such as the installation of a ramp or bars in the bathroom to ensure participants are receiving well-rounded care.
“In healthcare, you hear a lot of people talking about coordinated care and working as a team, and at PACE, we are truly doing that. We call our patients participants at PACE because we want them to participate in their care,” DeSutter said.
Outside of PACE, seniors would often have lots of medications split between multiple doctors with no big picture person to keep track of everything seniors need. PACE fills this gap as both the provider and payer of all these needs, authorizing all appointments and care services seniors need.
“In the PACE world, we take care of all of the needs that the person has,” DeSutter said. “You truly have coordinated care that is both provided, managed, and monitored by a very specific care team. We are their primary care doctor; we coordinate and schedule all of their specialist appointments.”
“Everything we do is an interdisciplinary team decision,” DeSutter said. “We call that our IDT interdisciplinary team decision. It's truly a team decision of multiple people at the table. You've got the doctor at the table, the nurses, the social workers, the transportation folks, the dietary folks, and the physical therapy folks. All of these people who make this person's world whole sit together and discuss what's going on.”
This one-on-one, big picture model of treatment PACE uses is a great option for seniors and their families along with the healthcare system as it is designed to keep people as healthy as possible and out of the emergency room. Enrollment in PACE also helps decrease the need for rehospitalizations, as patients can call PACE to share their health concerns so that PACE can troubleshoot possible issues, determining if they truly need to go to an emergency room.
People aged 55 and older who live in all of La Porte County, most of Porter County, and part of St. Joe County who are at risk for a nursing home level of care are eligible for enrollment at the PACE Center. Seniors do not need to determine if they are at risk for a nursing home level of care as this is something PACE will determine. DeSutter shared that the PACE Center staff is happy to give tours to potential PACE participants. If PACE is not the right solution for a senior, the staff will find other options that may better fit his or her needs.
To learn more about PACE, visit Franciscan Health’s website or email Melissa DeSutter at melissa.desutter@franciscanalliance.org.
