Redwood Coast PACE celebrates anniversary

Redwood Coast PACE, a program of the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, is celebrating both its sixth anniversary and National PACE Month in September.

“The PACE model of care has allowed Redwood Coast PACE to bring to Humboldt County a model of care that provides older adults with long-term care needs and their families the most freedom to live their lives in the community,” said Barbara LaHaie, program director. Redwood Coast PACE also holds the distinction of being the first rural PACE program in California, and a model for other rural programs in the state and country.

In order to enroll in Redwood Coast PACE, a person must be age 55 or over, live in the program service area that stretches from north of Trinidad south to Scotia, need a nursing home level of care and be able to live safely in the community with the support of PACE. The program provides not only comprehensive primary and specialty medical care, but also dental and vision care, hospitalization and emergency services, day center services, physical and other therapy, all transportation to the center and medical appointments, care coordination, inhome care, all medications, durable medical equipment and more.

Redwood Coast PACE now serves 209 participants, and recently opened a second center and clinic in Fortuna on the Gene Lucas Community Center campus at 3200 Newburg Road. The Fortuna Center primarily serves participants living in the Eel River Valley, who now have services closer to home, while the Eureka center serves participants from the northern Humboldt PACE service area.

Across the nation, PACE organizations care for 95% of their enrollees in the community rather than in a nursing home. PACE is a quickly growing care model that has been in operation for more than 30 years. A total of 134 organizations operate 264 PACE centers in 31 states. Currently, more than 51,000 individuals are enrolled in the program.

“Caring for older individuals with multiple health care needs has been particularly challenging during this pandemic,” said Melissa Hooven, Humboldt Senior Resource Center CEO. “To keep participants and staff as safe as possible, the PACE model of care has been adapted from bringing participants into a PACE center several times a week to providing services in the home. The resilience of the model in the face of this pandemic has been extremely effective.”

During the pandemic, Redwood Coast PACE staff have used telemedicine to communicate with and care for participants, from telephone calls to specialized technology via tablets in the home. Staff has worked to find new ways to engage participants who often miss their friends at the PACE center. The clinics at the PACE centers in both Eureka and Fortuna have remained open to serve participants by appointment.

Referrals are now being accepted for both the Eureka and Fortuna PACE centers. For more information, call 70-443-9747 or visit www.humsenior.org.

“The PACE model of care has allowed Redwood Coast PACE to bring to Humboldt County a model of care that provides older adults with long-term care needs and their families the most freedom to live their lives in the community.” — Barbara LaHaie, program director