For decades, this organization has operated facilities that provide a continuum of elderly care. Now it’s expanding to bring care to seniors in their homes.

Since the United Evangelical Home for Old People and Orphans was established in 1916, Albright Care Services has been anticipating and responding to the needs of the aging and frail. Now in the midst of a $25 million expansion and renovation project, the organization will provide support and services for more seniors in Pennsylvania than ever before.

In December 2005, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare selected Albright Care Services as the Living Independently for Elders (LIFE) program provider for Lycoming County and parts of Clinton County. LIFE is Pennsylvania’s version of the national Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a program that combines Medicare and Medicaid funds to provide comprehensive health and social services to nursing-home-eligible seniors who wish to remain in the home setting.

Albright Care Services LIFE Center, a 15,000 square foot comprehensive health services facility, is opening in downtown Williamsport this year, and plans to open a similar facility in Lancaster are in the works.

Through the LIFE Centers, ACS will coordinate, monitor, and authorize all care. The program will give seniors easy access to physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, therapists, chaplains, dietitians, personal care aides, and other contracted medical specialists. Care will be provided in the home setting and at the LIFE Center, depending on need, and a van program will cover all transportation required.

“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is encouraging the establishment of LIFE programs,” ACS vice president of fund development Peter Geschwindner said in a statement. “They know these programs improve quality of life for Pennsylvania’s frail and poor elderly. And they save as much as 17% in Medicare and Medicaid costs. That’s why they’ve designated ACS as the provider for LIFE programs in Lycoming and select parts of Clinton and Lancaster counties.”

Now and then
The history of Albright Care Services dates back to the late 1700s when Jacob Albright founded the United Evangelical Church. In 1916, the trustees of the church purchased 190 acres of property just north of Lewisburg, Pa. and established a home for orphans and the elderly.

In 1926, the Evangelical Hospital opened in one wing of a newly constructed dormitory for seniors, and in 1953, the organization donated land for the construction of the Evangelical Community Hospital. The new hospital allowed the Evangelical Home to dedicate
itself to serving seniors, and in the 1960s, the board of directors began a long-term campus development program. Over the years, the board added a 102-bed nursing care center, 71 assisted-living apartments, and 64 independent-living homes. Each of these facilities has grown dramatically over the years to meet the needs of the community.

Today, Albright Care Services owns and operates the RiverWoods Senior Living Community in Lewisburg, Normandie Ridge Senior Living Community in York, and manages Warrior Run Manor, a HUD-approved housing complex in Watsontown.

With the addition of the LIFE program, ACS will cover the full continuum of senior care by bringing health services into the home. “For most participants, the comprehensive service package permits them to continue living at home while receiving services,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services stated in an overview. “Capitated financing allows providers to deliver all services participants need rather than be limited to those reimbursable under the Medicare and Medicaid fee-for-service systems.”

Edith’s story
In a recent issue of Albright Today, ACS’s newsletter, Geschwindner described how the LIFE program will transform the way seniors receive care. Through Edith, an 80-year-old woman that is vulnerable to congestive heart failure and qualifies for nursing home placement, but prefers to remain independent, we see how LIFE will help seniors maintain the lives they want to live.

“On Monday, though she does not feel well, Edith wakes and dresses,” Geschwindner writes. “She knows the Albright LIFE van driver will be coming for her soon. At the Albright LIFE Center, an aid notices that Edith is not her usual cheery self. The aid recommends that Edith see the on-site physician. The physician, who is already familiar with Edith’s condition, prescribes medication, which is provided to Edith from the on-site pharmacy. A nursing assistant from the Albright LIFE program checks on Edith in her home that evening to be sure she is taking her medication and her condition is not worsening.”

Instead of waiting for “episodes” to occur that require her to be admitted to intensive care at the hospital, Edith has access to the preventative care that keeps these episodes from happening. “She does not go into congestive heart failure so there is no call to 911. There are no ambulance and paramedic charges, no emergency room charges, no intensive care unit and other hospital charges,” Geschwindner continued. “Edith’s health and quality of life are much improved. In addition, Medicare and Medicaid have saved money by simply paying their capitated rate to Edith’s LIFE program provider, Albright Care Services.”