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After four years and three spinal surgeries, Stephen Montgomery says he feels much closer to meeting his goal of someday walking again and jogging on the National Mall. He credits the physical and occupational therapy he receives at Edenbridge Program of All-Inclusive Care (PACE) at Skyland Town Center in Southeast as a determining factor in his progress.
In March, Montgomery, who currently uses a wheelchair, became the third elderly person to enroll in Edenbridge PACE. This center, the first PACE program in the District, serves those who are seeking individualized, hands-on medical and socio-emotional support that doesn’t require traveling long distances or moving into a nursing home.
Long before enrolling into Edenbridge PACE, Montgomery often had to leave his apartment on Benning Road in Northeast to see a specialist nearly seven miles away at Providence Hospital in Northeast. These days however, a bus driver picks him up directly from his apartment and takes him on a 10-minute ride to Edenbridge PACE where he participates in one-on-one sessions with physical and occupational therapists, communes with other elderly enrolled, and eats healthy meals prepared by Pinke’s E.A.T.S. in Northeast and MOM’s Organic Market.
Edenbridge PACE has also provided a home aide who tends to Montgomery’s needs whenever he’s not at the health care program. “I’ve been in rehab and nursing homes but this place takes the cake,” said Montgomery, 70. “My care is 100% [because] the health care workers take interest in what I need. They evaluate and share what needs to be done and make sure I get it.”
Earlier this year, Montgomery learned about Edenbridge PACE upon reading a flyer he found by his door. At the beginning of March, he enrolled in the program, navigating a process that included a conversation with his Medicaid and Medicare provider.
Several weeks later, Montgomery frequents Edenbridge PACE three days out of the week. He’s enjoyed the experience so much that he’s considering moving to an apartment much closer to the health care support program.
“Talking to them, I saw they not only had great interest in not just the disabled and elderly, but were happy about working here,” Montgomery said. “I get a lot of social time meeting some people who feel like family. Seeing them is what encourages me when I start my day.”
A Nationwide Program Makes Its Way to the District
The first PACE center opened in San Francisco in the 1970s in response to Chinese elders’ demands that they be able to age in place. Today, nearly 62,000 elders receive services at PACE centers across the nation.
On April 11, Edenbridge PACE staff members, participants and health care advocates joined D.C. Council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) and Charon P.W. Hines, acting director of the Department of Aging and Community Living, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating the health care center’s launch at Skyland Town Center.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) later visited to tour the center and speak with enrollees and employees.
By the time of the ribbon cutting, 18 people aged 55 years and older had been enrolled at Edenbridge PACE for nearly two months. Edenbridge PACE leaders anticipate serving 300 elderly Ward 7 and Ward 8 residents within the next three years.
Gray, former chairman of the Council’s Committee on Health, celebrated Edenbridge PACE’s opening as part of his vision for community-based health services for seniors living east of the Anacostia River.
“Senior care, of course, is among the most vital of all medical services,” Gray said. “We should not have to drive across town or into another state in search of medical care or better health options. With the opening of Edenbridge PACE at Skyland Town Center, we have taken another step in building a complete health care system on the East End.”
In the year before its launch, construction wrapped up on Edenbridge PACE at Skyland Town Center and staff members received extensive training, including in cultural competency.
The health care center had also been stocked with wheelchairs, oxygen machines, medical beds and other resources essential to meeting participants’ medical, social, emotional, and behavioral health needs near their homes.
Amanda Davis, executive director of Edenbridge PACE at Skyland Town Center, said staff members currently serve five enrollees per day in the center, while others directly receive services at home. Upon getting dropped off at the entrance of the health care center and getting signed in, participants enter the main hallway where they hang up their bags and extra clothes. From that point, a medical professional may meet with them in the triage room. After that, they participate in specifically tailored programming, spend time with other enrollees and eat healthy food.
Medicare- and Medicaid-eligible residents above the age of 55 who qualify for nursing home level of care can enroll at Edenbridge PACE at Skyland Town Center. Davis said many participants who often start their journey at Edenbridge PACE are already enrolled in a Medicaid and Medicare program, while others Edenbridge PACE helps with enrollment.
That arrangement, she added, allows Edenbridge PACE to facilitate primary, acute and long-term care services for participants.
More than a decade ago, the D.C. Department of Healthcare Finance embarked on a journey to amend D.C.’s Medicaid state plan so that PACE could serve residents in Wards 7 and 8 in this manner. Davis expressed her hope that, after a year or more of success, there will be potential for similar Edenbridge PACE health care centers to open in other parts of the District.
“When someone enrolls into Edenbridge PACE, we use the pot of money [from Medicare and Medicaid] to provide the care rather than them going to the doctor and the doctor billing those items,” Davis told The Informer. “The Baby Boomer generation worked really hard for their homes and don’t want to move so you’re seeing PACE catch on to make that compromise. You can reduce overhead when you have everyone in-house to prevent unnecessary hospitalization and cut down on health care costs.”