Congressman Boucher is joined by PACE Center director Tony Lawson, Mountain Empire Older Citizens director Marilyn Maxwell, Rural Development Virginia State Director Ellen Davis and Linda Nablo, Commissioner of the Virginia Department on the Aging, at the formal opening of the PACE center in Big Stone gap for which Rick obtained the federal funding.

Opening of Mountain Empire Older Citizens’ PACE Center

May 24, 2010

Big Stone Gap, Virginia

          I am pleased to return to Big Stone Gap today for the opening of Mountain Empire Older Citizens’ new PACE Center, an outstanding resource for Southwest Virginia’s elderly residents which was constructed with more than $4 million in federal funding.

          Many senior citizens in our area are capable of living on their own but need assistance from time to time. Often, these individuals receive care from family and friends, churches, or organizations like Mountain Empire Older Citizens. Currently, when the needs of these individuals exceed the care and services available from the community, they are faced with the need to enter institutionalized care.

          PACE is designed to enable these individuals to live safely in their homes while receiving the health care, rehabilitation and social services they need at the new, federally funded PACE center. PACE stands for Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, and the facility that opens today will provide a one-stop health care and social center for the region’s elderly residents. Seniors enrolled in PACE receive comprehensive health care services under the guidance of an interdisciplinary team, including medical, nursing, pharmacy, nutrition, recreation, rehabilitation, transportation,  personal care and social services.

          PACE is an innovative resource for our region. Mountain Empire Older Citizens’ contracts with 160 physicians, hospitals, home health agencies and other health care providers to ensure participants have access to the services they need. Each individual enrolled in the program receives a unique and comprehensive plan of care that is revised every six months to ensure it is meeting the health needs of the patient.

          I began working with Mountain Empire Older Citizens to implement PACE in Southwest Virginia five years ago. In September 2006, I gathered with many of you here today to announce that, at my urging, the U.S. Department of Agriculture through its Rural Development Agency would provide a low-interest federal loan of $3.4 million for construction of the nation’s first PACE center in a rural area. At that time, there were more than 40 PACE programs operating nationwide, but most of them were operating in urban areas. The announcement of federal funding for the PACE Center in Big Stone Gap represented the first of its kind in a rural setting.

          In addition, the Rural Development Agency provided another low-interest, federal loan of $600,000 for the Center, and a federal grant of $47,250 to furnish and equip the Center. In addition, the Virginia Tobacco Commission provided a grant of $129,500 and the Wise County Industrial Development Authority has donated the property on which the Center is located.

          Construction on the new PACE Center is now complete, and beginning today, seniors enrolled in the program can receive comprehensive care in an adult day care setting with an onsite primary care and rehabilitation clinic in the new, federally funded PACE Center.

          The new facility is 17,000 square feet in size and can accommodate 110 PACE participants daily. Participants visiting the PACE Center will benefit from a large group activity and dining room, an exercise room, a small group activity room, a kitchen, three personal care facilities outfitted with showers and dressing rooms, and a quiet space for rest and relaxation.

          Participants will also be able to receive primary care and rehabilitation services in the Center’s clinics. The primary care clinic includes a reception area, a medical lab and patient monitoring station, five exam rooms, a nurses’ station and office space. The rehabilitation clinic includes a large open space fully equipped for small group and individual therapeutic exercises, offices for staff and private rooms for individual therapy and treatment.

          In addition, the PACE Center includes administrative offices and meeting spaces for the PACE interdisciplinary care team and families of the participants.

          Mountain Empire Older Citizens began implementing PACE services in Lee, Wise and Scott Counties and the City of Norton in 2008, and already the program has achieved tremendous success.  In that time, 75 individuals have participated in PACE, and five new enrollees are set to begin PACE services on June 1. Seniors enrolled in the program have been able to accomplish high goals, such as improving their health, increasing their mobility and reducing their geriatric depression scores. Patients enrolled in the program have been able to become more independent, some showing such drastic improvement that they no longer need PACE services. Some have even been able to reenter the workforce through Mountain Empire Older Citizens’ Older Workers program. Mountain Empire Older Citizens hopes to continue to expand enrollment in the program, and, if necessary, develop another PACE Center in the region.

          To staff the PACE program, Mountain Empire Older Citizens has employed 30 individuals full-time. That number does not include the numerous personal care aides who take care of PACE participants in their homes and the drivers who transport PACE participants to receive services.

          With the opening of the federally funded PACE Center, the individuals enrolled in the program who are able may travel to the Center in Big Stone Gap to receive all of their health care services under one roof. Some PACE participants will still receive services in their homes if necessary. An interdisciplinary team of health care professionals will be assigned to each person enrolled in the program. Members of this team will meet with one another regularly to discuss the patient’s progress and ongoing treatment, and the team will have regular contact with the individual enrolled in the program so that any slight change in their health status may be addressed immediately.

          In addition to providing a one-stop location for health care services, the new PACE Center will serve as a social center for the program. The Center will offer individuals opportunities for socialization, dining, and therapeutic recreation with others enrolled in the program.

          The new PACE Center is an outstanding resource for our region’s elderly residents, and I look forward to my continued work with Mountain Empire Older Citizens and other organizations throughout our area to expand PACE offerings.

          There are a number of individuals who deserve thanks today for their tireless efforts to develop and implement PACE, and I would like to take this opportunity to recognize them.

          First I want to thank Marilyn Maxwell, Executive Director of Mountain Empire Older Citizens. Marilyn works tirelessly to provide quality services to the region’s elderly, and she has been working to bring PACE to this region for a number of years. In addition, Tony Lawson, the Director of the PACE program as well as the entire staff of Mountain Empire Older Citizens deserve our appreciation for the outstanding work that they perform.

          I would also like to thank the Chair of the Mountain Empire Older Citizens Board of Directors, Linda Kocher, and the other Members of the Board for their dedicated efforts on behalf of this project.

          Ellen Davis, State Director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency, Travis Jackson, Area Director, and the Agency’s excellent staff, deserve our appreciation for their work to secure this funding and for their longstanding efforts on behalf of worthwhile projects across our region.

          I want to thank Linda Nablo, Commissioner of the Virginia Department for the Aging, for her foresight in supporting PACE services.

          I also want to recognize Skip Skinner, director of the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission, and the other members of the LENOWISCO staff who have worked in support of this project.

          The Wise County IDA has provided outstanding support to this project. I also want to thank the Virginia Tobacco Commission for their efforts on behalf of the project.

          Finally, I would like to thank my Project Manager, Derek Lyall, for his persistent and persuasive efforts on behalf of this project.

          The opening of the new PACE Center is an example of what can be accomplished when citizens and government on the local, state and federal levels work in aid of a common purpose. The Center will greatly improve the quality of life for many of Southwest Virginia’s elderly residents, and I want to congratulate everyone here for their cooperation and successful work.