Following a heart attack and surgery, Sandra Howard sometimes struggled to obtain all the medications she’d been prescribed. She was being seen by more than one medical provider, and it wasn’t unusual for them to use different pharmacies. Howard’s daughters were tasked with rounding up the medications.
“My daughters always complained because at the time, I was taking around 10 or 11 meds,” Howard said.
Today, Howard obtains all her medications in one spot thanks to enrolling in the health care program known as PACE, or Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. And that’s not all: Howard spends many weekdays at the PACE center at 775 N. Edwards (near Central and McLean), taken to and from her home by a PACE van driver.
At the center, she can be seen in its medical clinic, eat a hot lunch and socialize with other PACE participants and staff. The bright and airy 32,000-square-foot center, opened at a cost of $6.5 million in 2023, also houses a pharmacy.
“I come four times a week,” Howard said. “It just gets me out of my funk.”
Asension LIving HOPE’s PACE program moved to a new $6.5 million center in 2023. Many participants are transported to it by PACE vans. Courtesy photo
For Howard and most other PACE participants who qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, there is minimal or no cost.
In Sedgwick County, PACE is provided by Ascension Living HOPE, part of the faith-based healthcare organization that also operates hospitals, clinics and senior living communities here. There are two other PACE programs in Kansas: Bluestem PACE, for residents of Harvey County and five other south-central Kansas counties; and Midland PACE, which serves residents of 15 counties in northeast Kansas.
The Kansas programs are part of a small but growing national model of care that began in San Francisco’s Chinatown-North Beach area in the early 1970s. Families there were looking for an alternative to placing elders in nursing homes. They formed a nonprofit called On Lok Senior Health Services. On Lok is Cantonese for “peaceful, happy abode.”
On Lok opened one of the nation’s first adult day care centers in 1973 and began receiving Medicaid reimbursement for adult day health services the next year. It soon expanded to offering complete medical care and social support.
In the 1980s, the federal government allowed On Lok to test a new system under which it would be paid a fixed amount each month for each person in the program — still the basic funding model for PACE programs — then allowed 10 more organizations across the country to replicate the program.
With help from national foundations and support from the government, PACE programs have continued to expand. Today there are 187 of them operating in 33 states and serving nearly 88,000 participants, according to the National PACE Association.
The Sedgwick County program, started in 2002, now serves about 340 participants and employs about 145 staff. Bluestem PACE, a subsidiary of Bluestem Communities, started in 2022 and serves about 120 participants with a staff of 80. Midland Care PACE has about 610 participants and a staff of 240.
“All-inclusive” doesn’t seem like too broad a term to sum up the services offered by Ascension Living’s PACE program. On the medical side, they include primary medical care, nursing and home care; physical, occupational and speech therapy; prescriptions, lab tests and procedures; home medical equipment, outpatient surgery, emergency room care, dentistry, optometry, podiatry and more. Non-medical services include wheelchair accessible transportation, social services, meals, recreation and personal care.
Each PACE participant has an 11-member interdisciplinary team of support including a primary care physician, registered nurse, social worker, activity coordinator and transportation representative.
“Everything we do for our seniors is focused on ‘what can we do to help them live well and live safely in their homes?’” said Jennifer Campbell, Ascension Living HOPE’s marketing director.
To be eligible for Ascension’s PACE program, an individual must be at least 55 years old, a resident of Sedgwick County, eligible for nursing home placement according to Kansas Department on Aging guidelines but able to live safely in the community. Participants authorize Ascension Living HOPE to administer their Medicaid and/or Medicare benefits and agree to receive all medical and community services through Ascension Living HOPE’s staff and provider network, although they can withdraw at any time.
Many participants face significant health challenges. In testimony before a state legislative committee last year, Lea Chaffee, vice president and executive director of Midland PACE, said its participants suffer from an average of 6.2 chronic conditions such as vascular disease, depression and diabetes.
But acting as both a health insurance and health care provider, the program helps seniors lead healthier lives, said Brenda Williams of Kansas PACE, which promotes all three programs in the state.
According to Kansas PACE, seniors in the program have 40 percent fewer hospital visits than those in regular Medicare plans while their family caregivers experience less stress. Participants with Medicaid pay nothing for PACE. Participants with Medicare but not Medicaid pay a monthly fee but no extra costs as they do with some Medicare plans.
Williams said PACE staff can often help participants qualify for Medicaid.
“There is an income threshold, and if they have $3,000 a month or less of income and no more than $2,000 of assets — but that does not include their house or a car — then the PACE program would be at no cost to them,” she said.
PACE advocates say the programs save the government money by reducing hospitalizations and emergency room visits through its emphasis on preventative care. While the programs have grown in Kansas, many members of the public still do not know about them. The state of Kansas recently awarded a grant to all three programs to promote PACE.
Ascension’s program gets an enthusiastic thumbs-up from Howard and several other participants who spoke to The Active Age. Howard noted she had felt lonely while living by herself for the last 10 years. As a PACE participant, she said, “I really like having the medical (care), and I love coming to socialize.”
“I’m never sitting in my chair very often. I eat better, a lot better … I’ve noticed a weight loss just eating normal good food.”
Chloe James joined PACE nine year ago after hearing about it from a friend. “She was telling me about this great program that she goes to. They pick her up, all the good activities and everything that they do, plus all the benefits and everything that we have,” James said.
The program literally saved her life, she said.
“I was having a heart attack and didn’t know it, and the aide I had recognized the fact that there was something wrong with me when she came over. I called my cardiologist and he told me to get myself to the emergency room. Sure enough, I went and had a triple bypass and came out of it just absolutely wonderful. Had physical therapy, just no problem at all.”
These days, she helps welcome new participants.
“It’s just great. My home healthcare people are wonderful. I can’t say enough good things about HOPE.”
To learn more
For more information about PACE, call 316-858-1111 if you live in Sedgwick County and (844) 588-7223 in Harvey County.
Kansas PACE is an awareness initiative to provide information on PACE and directs the person to the program in their area. Visit KansasPACE.org or call 1-855-662-1325.
