Strategy: Innovative Models and Proven Programs

Older Rhode Islanders, faced with the prospect of moving to a nursing home, may be able to stay home longer, thanks to PACE, a new-to-Rhode Island model of care – preventive, primary, acute, specialty, and long-term services – in community settings such as health care clinics, adult day centers, and homes.

With a $70,000 Foundation grant, CareLink, a nonprofit alliance of 11 senior care centers and organizations, will bring the ‘Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly’ to Rhode Island.

PACE got its start in the early 1970s in the Chinatown-North Beach community of San Francisco where a community-based system of care was developed for the largely immigrant elder population. Since then, PACE has been replicated in nearly 20 states, serving individuals who are 55 years old or older, meet the nursing home level of care, and are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

The Foundation wasn’t alone in supporting PACE. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the John A. Hartford Foundation made it possible to expand in ten states, including Rhode Island.

CareLink has received approval from the State to become a PACE provider and now is in the midst of a year-long application process with the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

CareLink, which will include affordable housing, will involve collaborations with organizations with expertise in such areas as geriatric medical care, claims management, and data processing, among others.

“We recognize we will need to collaborate with community based organizations and specifically with minority groups to successfully address the needs of our clients and families,” explains CareLink CEO (and new Rhode Island Foundation Fellow) Joan Kwiatkowski.

“We believe PACE will have a tremendous impact on families by providing intense medical care and supportive services in a caring, high quality program…

“It is the right idea at the right time,” Kwiatkowski concludes.