Congressman Chris Smith today visited the site of St. Francis Medical Center's federal PACE—Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly—the first such service in the State, for which Smith helped get federal approval.

    One year ago, St. Francis Medical Center (SFMC) opened its PACE facility, which it calls LIFE, or Living Independently for Elders, on Liberty Street on the Hamilton-Trenton border, as part of a three-way agreement with the N.J. Department of Health and Senior Services and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
 
    Today Congressman Smith met with senior citizens in the LIFE program, PACE staff and SFMC President Jerry Jablonowski. The assembly viewed a video update of LIFE, sang happy birthday and enjoyed birthday cake.

    "Since the grand opening of this facility, there are now other PACE sites that have opened in New Jersey, but you are the trailblazers," Smith said.

  Smith worked with officials from St. Francis since 2007 to assist the hospital in joining the federal program that enables nursing home-eligible seniors to obtain all inclusive care, without moving into a nursing home facility. The federal program PACE is funded through Medicare and Medicaid with 72 such centers established throughout the country. Smith voted to create the program in 1997.

    A team of doctors, nurses, physical therapists and other health experts in the LIFE pro­gram manage all the care of the patient for a set fee paid by Medicare and Medicaid, but also assume the risk, much like an insurance company. Patients will be brought into the center during the week for continuous monitoring. The center will also provide meals and recreation. Most importantly, members of the LIFE team will provide health care at the person’s home, including meals-to-go.

    It is expected that over a five-year period, LIFE will care for up to 300 seniors from Mercer County and northern Burlington County who apply for and are accepted into the program. Candidates must meet four main criteria. They must: be age 55 and up; live in the hospital’s service area; require a nursing home level of care, and; be physically able to live safely in their home.

    For more information about PACE, visit the National PACE Association’s website at www.npaonline.org or the CMS website at  http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PACE/.