July 3, 2024 • 11 mins
Scotty and Hannah talk to Ursula Robinson about Senior Day Programs.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of CarolinaCares. I'm Hannah Tyler, joined today
by Ursula Robinson. Now she isPresident and CEO of Pace of the Triad,
an organization that my partner Scotty andI got to know a little bit
about, and we're so excited tohave you on today to introduce you to
everyone throughout the Triad. Thank you, Hannah, glad to be here.
So what does PACE stand for?So Pace, the word PACE is actually
(00:24):
an acronym, and it's an acronymthat stands for a program of all inclusive
care for the elderly. The PACEProgram across the country is a not for
profit human service organization, health andhuman service organization that primarily serves older adults
who are dealing with chronic health conditionsand needs some assistance. What kind of
services does PACE all offer? Okay, So Pace offers a variety of services
(00:46):
and which is why the all inclusiveword is in our name. So I'll
start with the very first thing thatpeople take part in when they join the
PACE program, and that's our transportation. We have twenty plus transportation handicap vans
that go around and pick up ourolder adults and bring them to the PACE
Center if they're coming that day,and take them back home. We also
(01:07):
use our PACE transportation vans to takethem to medical specialist appointments. So that's
the first thing. The second thingmight be a home care aid. Some
of our older adults require assistance inthe home, and we assign aids to
go out in the home and assistthem with anything like personal care like housekeeping,
cooking, things of that nature.And then when they come to the
(01:29):
Day's Center, they have the opportunityto participate in what we call the Adult
Day Health Program, and that's theprogram for individual and group socialization. They
get to be around people like themselvesand participate in bingo and all kinds of
activities that older adults enjoy, includingdancing. And in addition to that,
we have a clinic in the backof the PACEE building and that's where our
(01:51):
physicians and nurses and nurse practitioners andnurse aides work out of. And then
finally we have a rehab area whichwe call Restored of Care or the GEM,
and the gym is where our physicaltherapists, occupational therapists, and speech
therapists work out of. That GEMis so important for folks who have had
a fall, or who've had astroke, or some kind of situation that's
(02:13):
made them go below their baseline functioning, And so the gem is really designed
to help folks either get back totheir baseline or at least maintain and not
deteriorate any further. Now, Ihave to say, the Adult day Center
looks like it is quite the hipand happening place. Gosh, it is
the place to be. I sawthere was like a donut on a string
eating. God, that's glitter everywhere. I feel so often seniors get overlooked
(02:34):
and it's let me put you infront of the TV or just kind of
out of sight, out of mindfor lack of a better term, and
you're really getting their brains. Moviedidn't them active in the community at the
day center? That is so importantthat you said that, Hannah. Please
let me share the story of alady when we first opened that, I
went out to see she was sittingin a home with her blinds closed.
The door was open because she wasexpecting me. I come into her house
(02:59):
and it's dark and I'm yelling hello, and she says, come down the
hall. So I figure out howto come down the hall and she's sitting
in this room with the soap operason and the shades are drawing, And
I said, tell me what youdo all day and she said, what
you see me doing right here watchingthe stories. I'll get up in a
minute and make something for my lunch. And so I started telling her about
(03:19):
the program and she was like,I'm not so sure. I want to
be around a lot of people.However, Hannah, I'm happy to say
not only did she start attending thePace Center on a regular basis, but
she has become our biggest cheerleader.She welcomes older adults that are new to
the program and make sure that theyget settled in. She's been with us
for a while and she is trulywhat we call our miracle child because she
(03:40):
was depressed from being at home andno interactions with other people. Her children
were in town. But you know, they check on her because she wants
to be as independent as possible.And that's what I love about the PACE
program. It really helps older adultsremain as independent as possible. Now we
do have older adults who live alone, we have older adults who live with
family members or friends. It doesn'tmatter your living situation as long as you
(04:05):
meet the criteria, which is fiftyfive or older, live in our service
area, which for our program isGUILDFD in Rockenham Counties, meet the criteria
that the state has determined in termsof needing a certain level of care.
So that would mean this person hassome kind of chronic health condition they need
assistance with something. It may bepreparing meals, or it may be personal
(04:30):
care or mobilization. Somebody may havea wheelchair walker, any of those kinds
of things. That's anything that someonemight need an assistance with. The state
takes that in consideration. The lastcriteria is that that older adult must be
able to live safely in the communitywith the support of PACE, and that's
where we have come in for somany older adults who weren't quite safe alone,
(04:51):
but with our support were able tobe safe and continue living at home.
Now you mentioned that the state hasto basically recommend them in to the
program in the sidense they're needing assistant. That seems very overwhelming, especially if
you're a caregiver. Do you guysoffer services to help get all that criteria
worked out? We do it all, Hannah. So what happens is once
(05:12):
anyone makes a referral, and that'sanother beauty of the PACE program. We
don't have to have a doctor's note, We don't have to have a doctor's
order. It could be a neighboror a friend, a family member.
As a matter of fact, mostof our referrals come from our own participants.
That's what we call the older adultswho are in our program. They
come from our own participants in theirfamily. So our biggest advertisement is word
of mouth, which is a goodblessing for us. But yeah, so
(05:35):
we take care of all of that. As soon as someone say yes,
I'm interested in PACE program, wehandwalk them through the qualification process and try
to take as much off the caregiveras possible, because what we realize is
by the time someone comes to thePACE program, their caregivers have taken time
off of work, their stress.You know, a lot of them have
family members of their own, childrenthat they're raising, spouses, and so
(05:58):
we're really doing our to take someof that burden, if you will,
off of caregivers. So if someone'slistening today and they're thinking, oh my
gosh, I want to get involvedin PACE, or there's a caregiver saying,
my mom would be great for this, but uh, it sounds like
it's expensive. How is that costtaken care of? It is not expensive,
I'll say that, but it istaken care of through Medicare and Medicaid.
(06:20):
We today have not had any privateinsurance plans that we've had to try
to negotiate rates with because everybody haseither qualified for Medicare or Medicaid with our
assistance if they don't already have it, so we've been able to work it
out. Now. If there issomeone who is not eligible for Medicare yet
(06:41):
but they have Medicaid, the Departmentof Social Services works very closely with us
to help them in qualifying for Medicaid. And it's a special kind of Medicaid.
It's Pace Medicaid, okay, andthere's a difference. So I don't
want anybody out there going, oh, I've tried Medicaid before and I didn't
qualify. This is a different kindof Medicaid that will assist with and if
they have questions with Pace Medicaid andall that, all the resource for that
is as we are. Our phonenumber is three three six five five zero
(07:05):
forty forty. This really sounds likea one stop shop for anything senior related,
whether it's entertainment or health. Oneof the things I saw online is
you really dignity matters, And Ithink we live in a society and it's
getting better where aging is evil,can be young forever. Can you touch
on that a little bit. Yeah, we are definitely in a society where
(07:27):
aging is something to avoid, andwe're seeing that played out in all aspects
of our society, politics, theenvironment, you name it, it's there.
I was raised by grandparents, soI have a deep respect for older
adults and I bring that into everyjob that I do, and I was
especially honored to bring that to thePACE program because I started that PACE program
(07:50):
with my grandmother in mind, whatkind of services in the community which she
benefit from in order to stay inthe community. And the PACE program was
idea. Like you said, it'sthe one stop shopping, so as a
caregiver, I didn't have to worryabout doctor's appointments or making sure Mom got
her medication because, by the way, I don't know that I mentioned this,
PACE is also the insurance plan forolder adults, so we not only
(08:13):
pay for medication supplies, equipment,we've helped with wheelchair ramps when folks have
needed it. But any healthcare issuethat they have, we take care of
it. We pay for it.There's no deductibles and there's no copays,
So it really is taking care ofthe insurance part of working with an older
adult, but also the care thatthey need is all provided by the PACE
(08:35):
program. We're talking today with UrsulaRobinson, President and CEO of PACE of
the Triad. Now you hadn't mentionedoff air that you've been with them thirteen
years. Yes, and then youjust touched on how when you started the
program. How I got to Paceof the Triad. Well, I started
out as a VP of clinical serviceswith Back then it was called Hospice and
Palady Care of Greensboro. It's nowcalled Authoriticare, and I was there for
(08:58):
eighteen years. Really saw myself retiringin hospice care because I'm just passionate about
not only older adults but also endof life care. However, I got
a call from my CEO one dayand said, there's some discussion between some
of the nonprofit organizations here in townabout bringing PACE to North Carolina or to
Greensboro. And I know, youknow something about PACE. Would you be
(09:22):
interested in representing us at the meeting? And I said absolutely, I'll go.
So at that meeting was the MosesCon Health System Well Springs Retirement Community,
a home care agency at that timethat's no longer with us, but
advanced home care, and then Irepresented hospice and so before we called ourselves
(09:43):
like minded nonprofit organizations came together anddecided that this was what our community needed
for older adults. I was withthem from the beginning in terms of the
planning of the process, and whenit came time to looking for a CEO,
I stepped out and said, Iwant to be your next See this
is my baby. I want tosee this thing all the way through.
(10:05):
And it has been such a joyevery day since. Oh I love it.
Ursula Robinson, President and CEO ofthe Pace of the Triad. Two
more quick questions. If there's acaregiver listening right now who needs that help
and they try to do everything ontheir own, and sometimes as humans,
we just have to admit we can'tdo all of that. If they're working
through that hesitation right now, whatwould you say to them about bringing mom
(10:28):
or dad or their aun or uncleto PACE of the Triad. I would
say, don't hesitate and call us, because we are going to provide what
we call person centered care for yourloved one and for you. So your
loved one in the beginning might notwant to come to the PACE program to
participate in the socialization activities. That'squite all right. Not everyone comes to
PACE now. On average, mostof the adults in our program come two
(10:52):
days a week, but we havesome that don't come at all, and
we have folks who have to graduallybuild themselves up to certain things that we
offer in our PACE program, andthat's perfectly fine. Let us do the
talking. That's the other thing Iwould say to a caregiver, because sometimes
people hear things better from strangers thanthey do from family. Yes, I
don't know what that is. Ithappens to my family as well, but
(11:15):
they just do. And so I'dsay, let the professionals handle it.
Let you just be the daughter,you be the son, the spouse,
and let us be the professionals thattake care of And if someone wants to
get in touch with Pace of theTriad, what's the best way to do
that. The best way to doit is call our main number, which
is three three six five five zeroforty forty, or you can go to
our website www dot paceetriyad dot orgUrsula. Thank you so much for coming
(11:39):
in today. Thank you, Hannah, My pleasure
Welcome back to another episode of CarolinaCares. I'm Hannah Tyler, joined today
by Ursula Robinson. Now she isPresident and CEO of Pace of the Triad,
an organization that my partner Scotty andI got to know a little bit
about, and we're so excited tohave you on today to introduce you to
everyone throughout the Triad. Thank you, Hannah, glad to be here.
So what does PACE stand for?So Pace, the word PACE is actually
(00:24):
an acronym, and it's an acronymthat stands for a program of all inclusive
care for the elderly. The PACEProgram across the country is a not for
profit human service organization, health andhuman service organization that primarily serves older adults
who are dealing with chronic health conditionsand needs some assistance. What kind of
services does PACE all offer? Okay, So Pace offers a variety of services
(00:46):
and which is why the all inclusiveword is in our name. So I'll
start with the very first thing thatpeople take part in when they join the
PACE program, and that's our transportation. We have twenty plus transportation handicap vans
that go around and pick up ourolder adults and bring them to the PACE
Center if they're coming that day,and take them back home. We also
(01:07):
use our PACE transportation vans to takethem to medical specialist appointments. So that's
the first thing. The second thingmight be a home care aid. Some
of our older adults require assistance inthe home, and we assign aids to
go out in the home and assistthem with anything like personal care like housekeeping,
cooking, things of that nature.And then when they come to the
(01:29):
Day's Center, they have the opportunityto participate in what we call the Adult
Day Health Program, and that's theprogram for individual and group socialization. They
get to be around people like themselvesand participate in bingo and all kinds of
activities that older adults enjoy, includingdancing. And in addition to that,
we have a clinic in the backof the PACEE building and that's where our
(01:51):
physicians and nurses and nurse practitioners andnurse aides work out of. And then
finally we have a rehab area whichwe call Restored of Care or the GEM,
and the gym is where our physicaltherapists, occupational therapists, and speech
therapists work out of. That GEMis so important for folks who have had
a fall, or who've had astroke, or some kind of situation that's
(02:13):
made them go below their baseline functioning, And so the gem is really designed
to help folks either get back totheir baseline or at least maintain and not
deteriorate any further. Now, Ihave to say, the Adult day Center
looks like it is quite the hipand happening place. Gosh, it is
the place to be. I sawthere was like a donut on a string
eating. God, that's glitter everywhere. I feel so often seniors get overlooked
(02:34):
and it's let me put you infront of the TV or just kind of
out of sight, out of mindfor lack of a better term, and
you're really getting their brains. Moviedidn't them active in the community at the
day center? That is so importantthat you said that, Hannah. Please
let me share the story of alady when we first opened that, I
went out to see she was sittingin a home with her blinds closed.
The door was open because she wasexpecting me. I come into her house
(02:59):
and it's dark and I'm yelling hello, and she says, come down the
hall. So I figure out howto come down the hall and she's sitting
in this room with the soap operason and the shades are drawing, And
I said, tell me what youdo all day and she said, what
you see me doing right here watchingthe stories. I'll get up in a
minute and make something for my lunch. And so I started telling her about
(03:19):
the program and she was like,I'm not so sure. I want to
be around a lot of people.However, Hannah, I'm happy to say
not only did she start attending thePace Center on a regular basis, but
she has become our biggest cheerleader.She welcomes older adults that are new to
the program and make sure that theyget settled in. She's been with us
for a while and she is trulywhat we call our miracle child because she
(03:40):
was depressed from being at home andno interactions with other people. Her children
were in town. But you know, they check on her because she wants
to be as independent as possible.And that's what I love about the PACE
program. It really helps older adultsremain as independent as possible. Now we
do have older adults who live alone, we have older adults who live with
family members or friends. It doesn'tmatter your living situation as long as you
(04:05):
meet the criteria, which is fiftyfive or older, live in our service
area, which for our program isGUILDFD in Rockenham Counties, meet the criteria
that the state has determined in termsof needing a certain level of care.
So that would mean this person hassome kind of chronic health condition they need
assistance with something. It may bepreparing meals, or it may be personal
(04:30):
care or mobilization. Somebody may havea wheelchair walker, any of those kinds
of things. That's anything that someonemight need an assistance with. The state
takes that in consideration. The lastcriteria is that that older adult must be
able to live safely in the communitywith the support of PACE, and that's
where we have come in for somany older adults who weren't quite safe alone,
(04:51):
but with our support were able tobe safe and continue living at home.
Now you mentioned that the state hasto basically recommend them in to the
program in the sidense they're needing assistant. That seems very overwhelming, especially if
you're a caregiver. Do you guysoffer services to help get all that criteria
worked out? We do it all, Hannah. So what happens is once
(05:12):
anyone makes a referral, and that'sanother beauty of the PACE program. We
don't have to have a doctor's note, We don't have to have a doctor's
order. It could be a neighboror a friend, a family member.
As a matter of fact, mostof our referrals come from our own participants.
That's what we call the older adultswho are in our program. They
come from our own participants in theirfamily. So our biggest advertisement is word
of mouth, which is a goodblessing for us. But yeah, so
(05:35):
we take care of all of that. As soon as someone say yes,
I'm interested in PACE program, wehandwalk them through the qualification process and try
to take as much off the caregiveras possible, because what we realize is
by the time someone comes to thePACE program, their caregivers have taken time
off of work, their stress.You know, a lot of them have
family members of their own, childrenthat they're raising, spouses, and so
(05:58):
we're really doing our to take someof that burden, if you will,
off of caregivers. So if someone'slistening today and they're thinking, oh my
gosh, I want to get involvedin PACE, or there's a caregiver saying,
my mom would be great for this, but uh, it sounds like
it's expensive. How is that costtaken care of? It is not expensive,
I'll say that, but it istaken care of through Medicare and Medicaid.
(06:20):
We today have not had any privateinsurance plans that we've had to try
to negotiate rates with because everybody haseither qualified for Medicare or Medicaid with our
assistance if they don't already have it, so we've been able to work it
out. Now. If there issomeone who is not eligible for Medicare yet
(06:41):
but they have Medicaid, the Departmentof Social Services works very closely with us
to help them in qualifying for Medicaid. And it's a special kind of Medicaid.
It's Pace Medicaid, okay, andthere's a difference. So I don't
want anybody out there going, oh, I've tried Medicaid before and I didn't
qualify. This is a different kindof Medicaid that will assist with and if
they have questions with Pace Medicaid andall that, all the resource for that
is as we are. Our phonenumber is three three six five five zero
(07:05):
forty forty. This really sounds likea one stop shop for anything senior related,
whether it's entertainment or health. Oneof the things I saw online is
you really dignity matters, And Ithink we live in a society and it's
getting better where aging is evil,can be young forever. Can you touch
on that a little bit. Yeah, we are definitely in a society where
(07:27):
aging is something to avoid, andwe're seeing that played out in all aspects
of our society, politics, theenvironment, you name it, it's there.
I was raised by grandparents, soI have a deep respect for older
adults and I bring that into everyjob that I do, and I was
especially honored to bring that to thePACE program because I started that PACE program
(07:50):
with my grandmother in mind, whatkind of services in the community which she
benefit from in order to stay inthe community. And the PACE program was
idea. Like you said, it'sthe one stop shopping, so as a
caregiver, I didn't have to worryabout doctor's appointments or making sure Mom got
her medication because, by the way, I don't know that I mentioned this,
PACE is also the insurance plan forolder adults, so we not only
(08:13):
pay for medication supplies, equipment,we've helped with wheelchair ramps when folks have
needed it. But any healthcare issuethat they have, we take care of
it. We pay for it.There's no deductibles and there's no copays,
So it really is taking care ofthe insurance part of working with an older
adult, but also the care thatthey need is all provided by the PACE
(08:35):
program. We're talking today with UrsulaRobinson, President and CEO of PACE of
the Triad. Now you hadn't mentionedoff air that you've been with them thirteen
years. Yes, and then youjust touched on how when you started the
program. How I got to Paceof the Triad. Well, I started
out as a VP of clinical serviceswith Back then it was called Hospice and
Palady Care of Greensboro. It's nowcalled Authoriticare, and I was there for
(08:58):
eighteen years. Really saw myself retiringin hospice care because I'm just passionate about
not only older adults but also endof life care. However, I got
a call from my CEO one dayand said, there's some discussion between some
of the nonprofit organizations here in townabout bringing PACE to North Carolina or to
Greensboro. And I know, youknow something about PACE. Would you be
(09:22):
interested in representing us at the meeting? And I said absolutely, I'll go.
So at that meeting was the MosesCon Health System Well Springs Retirement Community,
a home care agency at that timethat's no longer with us, but
advanced home care, and then Irepresented hospice and so before we called ourselves
(09:43):
like minded nonprofit organizations came together anddecided that this was what our community needed
for older adults. I was withthem from the beginning in terms of the
planning of the process, and whenit came time to looking for a CEO,
I stepped out and said, Iwant to be your next See this
is my baby. I want tosee this thing all the way through.
(10:05):
And it has been such a joyevery day since. Oh I love it.
Ursula Robinson, President and CEO ofthe Pace of the Triad. Two
more quick questions. If there's acaregiver listening right now who needs that help
and they try to do everything ontheir own, and sometimes as humans,
we just have to admit we can'tdo all of that. If they're working
through that hesitation right now, whatwould you say to them about bringing mom
(10:28):
or dad or their aun or uncleto PACE of the Triad. I would
say, don't hesitate and call us, because we are going to provide what
we call person centered care for yourloved one and for you. So your
loved one in the beginning might notwant to come to the PACE program to
participate in the socialization activities. That'squite all right. Not everyone comes to
PACE now. On average, mostof the adults in our program come two
(10:52):
days a week, but we havesome that don't come at all, and
we have folks who have to graduallybuild themselves up to certain things that we
offer in our PACE program, andthat's perfectly fine. Let us do the
talking. That's the other thing Iwould say to a caregiver, because sometimes
people hear things better from strangers thanthey do from family. Yes, I
don't know what that is. Ithappens to my family as well, but
(11:15):
they just do. And so I'dsay, let the professionals handle it.
Let you just be the daughter,you be the son, the spouse,
and let us be the professionals thattake care of And if someone wants to
get in touch with Pace of theTriad, what's the best way to do
that. The best way to doit is call our main number, which
is three three six five five zeroforty forty, or you can go to
our website www dot paceetriyad dot orgUrsula. Thank you so much for coming
(11:39):
in today. Thank you, Hannah, My pleasure
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