Interview: Jeffrey Freimark

Keeping PACE

Pandemic shift allowed patients to continue receiving care in assisted living buildings, homes

Jeffrey Freimark

President & CEO – Miami Jewish Health

What were the company’s key milestones last year? Our PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) organization, our home and community-based services arm, was forced to shift to providing care and services to our participants in their assisted living buildings and residential homes as the pandemic made it impossible to keep the centers open. It was great to see how the program pivoted to continue providing care to our participants.

Our entire team on the main campus, where we have a 412-bed nursing home and assisted and independent living residences, continues to perform admirably. Despite early challenges in our attempts to control the virus, we were able to learn quickly about how to manage and overcome the issues. To help, we converted our 32bed hospital on campus into a COVID-positive unit with full acute care, nursing and medical support services. I couldn’t be more proud of how the entire team rallied to deal with the situation.

How important are the PACE centers? Most of the participants in our PACE program are eligible to receive both Medicare and Medicaid. This model of care is far cheaper for the country on a monthly basis than the cost of nursing homes. The quality of life for a PACE participant is also better. They receive comprehensive medical care and social engagement while remaining independent and living in the community.

What does the future of senior living spaces look like in the wake of the pandemic? Spacing is going to become increasingly essential, in terms of how to design and configure the rooms. The sixfoot separation will become mandatory. We also need to look at the rules surrounding in-person visitation, which was both essential and harmful during the pandemic. We need to figure out how to provide for physical contact in a safe and responsible way. Finally, staffing will continue to be a crucial theme. Nursing staff are mentally and physically exhausted after the past 12 months, so we need to ensure that talented workers are still being attracted to senior living spaces like ours. The number of older people who need full-time care in the United States will only increase over the next few years, so this represents an important challenge.

What more can be done to address post-acute care? The post-acute sector is much maligned and it does not get enough attention. It is important that government officials recognize that there is a population here that needs to be serviced and cared for. We need more support from policymakers. The governor of Florida signed the COVID Liability Protection Bill, for example. We need more developments like this.