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Presbyterian Senior Living and PinnacleHealth Selected to Participate in National Learning Collaborative - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock
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SOURCE: Abel Communications
Affordable Housing and Services for Seniors to Deliver Healthcare Savings, Promote Better Quality of Life for Seniors
Harrisburg, PA (PRWEB) January 10, 2013
Presbyterian Senior Living and PinnacleHealth System today announced that they have been selected to partner in a national initiative to create strategies that improve quality of life for senior residents while producing cost savings to the health and long-term care systems. Developed by LeadingAge and Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise), the Learning Collaborative will engage 12 teams of senior housing organizations and service providers to develop and refine housing and healthcare models over a two-year period. Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) is also participating in the effort, providing strategic policy support to the teams.
“At Presbyterian Senior Living, our mission is always to find new ways to improve quality of life for seniors, at our communities and across the country,” said Diane Burfeindt, Vice President of Operations, Housing with Services at Presbyterian Senior Living. “We are honored to participate in the Learning Collaborative as we feel our partnership with PinnacleHealth demonstrates a true, synergistic relationship that we believe can be replicated on a national scale.”
Through the Learning Collaborative, teams will explore components of housing with services strategies such as partnership development, operations, financing mechanisms, outcome measurement, data collection systems and processes, and policy and regulatory changes. The Learning Collaborative model highlights peer-to-peer education, harnessing the vast expertise among the participants.
Presbyterian Senior Living and PinnacleHealth were selected to participate in the National Learning Collaborative because of a progressive partnership aimed at reducing hospital costs and improving the health of residents at Presbyterian Senior Living’s Presbyterian Apartments in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After it was discovered that residents at Presbyterian Apartments were using the nearby PinnacleHealth emergency room for primary care needs in order to avoid public transportation challenges, the two organizations joined forces to better manage primary and follow up care. Today, a PinnacleHealth physician provides primary care for a certain number of hours each week, assisted by a health navigator to help residents in managing follow up care instructions and a social work navigator to assist with socioeconomic barriers to care.
“Evident results will be reduced emergency room visits and decreased hospitalizations among participating seniors,” states Barbara Terry, vice president for Mission Effectiveness and Chief Diversity Officer at PinnacleHealth. “Our partnership with Presbyterian Senior Living provides a model for working together to improve access to care for seniors and enables them to maintain individual and optimal wellness and safe living.”
Collectively, PinnacleHealth and Presbyterian Senior Living are helping patients proactively manage healthcare, reducing hospital visits and readmissions, while at the same time promoting better quality of life for residents.
“At a time when our senior population is growing more rapidly than ever before, and public resources for affordable housing and services are shrinking, it is vital that we take the necessary steps to support innovation, identify successes, and encourage the adoption of these emerging successful models,” adds Terri Ludwig, president and CEO, Enterprise.
The 12 participating teams in the Learning Collaborative are leaders in providing affordable housing and healthcare services to a diverse senior population.
For more information on the collaborative, visit http://www.enterprisecommunity.org/learningcollaborative or http://www.leadingage.org/learningcollaborative.aspx.
About Presbyterian Senior Living
Presbyterian Senior Living is a not-for-profit organization, providing retirement and senior care services for more than 85 years. Headquartered in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, Presbyterian Senior Living provides services to more than 5,400 seniors in 26 locations in the mid-Atlantic region of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Delaware.
About PinnacleHealth
PinnacleHealth is a pioneer not-for-profit healthcare system dedicated to providing and improving the health and quality of life for the people of Central Pennsylvania since 1873. A proven leader in medical innovation, PinnacleHealth offers a wide range of services from primary care to the most complex surgeries and Magnet recognition for nursing excellence. The healthcare network includes four campuses (Community, Cumberland, Harrisburg and Polyclinic) and medical services, including family practice, imaging, outpatient surgery and oncology, at multiple locations throughout the region. For a complete list of services, visit our website at http://www.pinnaclehealth.org.
About LeadingAge
To expand the world of possibilities for aging, LeadingAge members and affiliates touch the lives of 4 million individuals, families, employees and volunteers every day. The LeadingAge community (http://www.LeadingAge.org) includes 6,000 not-for-profit organizations in the United States, 39 state partners, hundreds of businesses, research partners, consumer organizations, foundations and a broad global network of aging services organizations that reach over 30 countries. The work of LeadingAge is focused on advocacy, education, and applied research. We promote home health, hospice, community-based services, senior housing, assisted living residences, continuing care communities, nursing homes as well as technology solutions and person-centered practices that support the overall health and wellbeing of seniors, children, and those with special needs.
About Enterprise
Enterprise is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For 30 years, Enterprise has introduced neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested more than $11.5 billion in equity, grants and loans to help build or preserve nearly 300,000 affordable rental and for-sale homes to create vital communities. Enterprise has invested $2.2 billion toward the creation of more than 37,000 affordable homes for seniors. Visit http://www.EnterpriseCommunity.org and http://www.EnterpriseCommunity.com to learn more about Enterprise's efforts to build communities and opportunity.
About SAHF
Launched in 2003, SAHF has 12 sophisticated nonprofit members who acquire, preserve and are committed to long-term, sustainable ownership and continued affordability of multifamily rental properties for low-income families, seniors and disabled individuals. Together, SAHF members own and operate housing in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands—providing homes to approximately 100,000 low-income households across the country. For more information about SAHF, visit http://www.sahfnet.org.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/1/prweb10306804.htm
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