Program aims to keep seniors engaged, strong
Sequoia Healthcare District’s program seeks to help seniors stay active, fulfilled
REDWOOD CITY » At 88, Surlene Grant is the kind of person the Sequoia Healthcare District and Peninsula Family Service are targeting with a new program to help seniors live more fulfilling lives.
Called 70 Strong, it connects the district’s 40,000 seniors with a directory website, phone line and network of social workers who can refer them to any of 300 partners providing free or lowcost local services aimed at improving the older adults’ physical and mental health.
Grant had a bit of a head start. Even before she lost her husband in 2014, the former high school attendance office worker was going to weekly yoga classes and Bible study. But when the classes at the nearby health club were canceled late last year, she was flummoxed.
Where could she find another class? Where should she look? Who could help her?
Enter 70 Strong — a moniker that honors the health care district’s 70th anniversary and those district residents who are 70 and older.
California has 78 health care districts, special districts founded in 1946 that build and operate hospitals and other health care facilities and services through local taxpayer funding.
The Sequoia Healthcare District, funded by south San Mateo County residents through property taxes, opened Sequoia Hospital in 1950.
The hospital, however, is now owned and operated by San Francisco-based Dignity Health. So some taxpayer groups have called for dismantling the dis- trict and using the taxpayer money for schools and police and fire services instead.
“I got a card in the mail, and it caught my attention,’’ Grant recalled. “It was about how to grow old gracefully and keep active. And I wanted to continue exercising, even though I had stopped going.’’
The Redwood City resident called 70 Strong and reached a “navigator,” who quickly found Grant yoga classes at Fair Oaks Community Center in Redwood City — less than a mile from the widow’s home. The center also offers a Pilates class Grant attends once a week.
And unlike the yoga classes at the gym that cost money, the community center classes did not.
“We want it to be a period of time that’s focused on their strengths, not weaknesses.’’ — Lee Michelson, CEO of health care district
“It’s free — thank goodness,’’ said Grant, who has three adult children, two of whom live in the Bay Area. “I really appreciate it.’’
Such comments are music to the ears of Lee Michelson, CEO of the health care district and a key leader behind the 2-yearold pilot program.
“One of the problems with older adults is their health. Many of them have stopped working or they have stopped driving, and they become very socially isolated,’’ he said, adding that about a third of those 65 and older in the district live by themselves.
Not only can their circumstances lead to depression, he said, but also physical problems like falls if the seniors aren’t moving and getting up and about.
“That’s why we call it 70 Strong: The whole idea is when you reach your 70s and older, you try to create a situation where your mind is strong and you’re active and vibrant and having a reason to get out of the house,’’ he said. “We want it to be a period of time that’s focused on their strengths, not weaknesses.’’
Michelson and others say the program couldn’t come soon enough for the district’s 218,000 residents. The 13- square-mile district includes Atherton, Belmont, Portola Valley, Redwood Shores, San Carlos, Woodside and parts of Foster City, Menlo Park and San Mateo.
According to a 2017 annual review by Harvey M. Rose Associates, a business consulting firm in San Francisco, San Mateo County’s population is projected to grow by 26 percent in the 30-year period from 2010 to 2040, with the number of adults 65 years and older increasing from 12.6 percent in 2010 to 18 percent in 2030.
While the health care district has a dependable source of income — approximately 1.3 percent of the county’s property tax revenue — the Rose report noted “there is insufficient awareness of the services provided by the district among residents and potential service recipients.’’
The 70 Strong program is aiming to solve that by marketing the program through a variety of media. The website, created in English and Spanish, also offers Google Trans- lator for a total of 21 languages focused on three categories for older adults: health and wellness, fitness and community engagement, and aging in place. Each of these categories provides information on where to find community health clinics, hospice care, adult activity centers, LGBT assistance, housing options, among other services.
The district budgeted $ 813,000 to administer the first year, much of that spent on startup costs such as building a new website and marketing, as well as salaries for four employees, Michelson said.
The program has its critics, including healthcare district board member and fiscal watchdog Jack Hickey. The Woodside resident recently called 70 Strong “nothing more than a facade’’ created in an attempt to justify a two-year grant of $1.5 million to the nonprofit Peninsula Family Service, which administers the program.
The marginal increase in services which 70 Strong might bring to district seniors, Hickey said, “does not justify the grant.’’
Michelson and others refute that characterization, saying 135 people have benefited since the program launched Feb. 1. He said inquiries have come in from “pretty much our entire district,’’ which ranges from well-to- do to more middle- and low-income residents, the CEO said.
Redwood City Councilwoman Diane Howard, a former licensed vocational nurse, said there are other county guides for seniors that are helpful, but “they’re filled with so many different resources it’s pretty overwhelming for someone — they’re not sure where to start,’’ she said.
With 70 Strong, the health care district is providing “the missing piece to the puzzle with the navigation portion: the person who can go to your house and interview you and help you discover what resources you need and when,’’ Howard said.
That’s what happened with San Carlos resident David Morgan, who contacted the program after he ended up in Sequoia Hospital earlier this year for a heart condition.
As the 68-year- old retiree and Medicare enrollee was preparing to leave the hospital, he said, a nurse there told him about 70 Strong.
Since he does not drive, a social worker from the program met him at his house, then took him to the program office to explain a variety of benefits available to him, including the fact that he qualified for Medi- Cal. Since he joined the health care program for the poor in January, Morgan said, he has at least $4,200 in medical bills.
The social worker also introduced him to RediWheels, a low- cost curbto- curb San Mateo County transportation service.
“It’s door- to- door service and I use them when I need to go to medical appointments, or hair cuts,’’ Morgan said.
Morgan, a former credit and collection manager for a computer training company who ekes out a living on just his Social Security, said 70 Strong has been a godsend.
“I think it’s great for seniors,” he said. “A lot of us need help.”