Nursing kicks off LIFE program

With last Friday's opening of a University City center that provides one-stop-shopping for elderly medical patients, Penn's School of Nursing is now giving older Pennsylvanians an alternative to nursing homes. The Living Independently For Elders facility at 41st Street and Woodland Avenue, operated by the Nursing School, is a managed-care center that will provide all medical and social services at one location for frail elders eligible for nursing-home care. The facility is not a residential center. Penn's LIFE program -- part of the Nursing School's Penn Nursing Network of seven community-based practices is the only nurse-managed facility of its kind in the country. More than 100 people -- including University and government officials and community members -- attended the official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, performed by LIFE's first member, 68-year-old West Philadelphia resident Marjorie Pope. In her introductory remarks, Nursing School Dean Norma Lang explained that the facility will serve the dual purpose of providing a much-needed service to West Philadelphia while preparing Penn students for futures careers in health care. The partnership among the Nursing School, the state and city governments and the local community, Lang said, shows how working together can "increase educational opportunities for future primary health care providers and at the same time improve health care for our nation's most vulnerable populations." The program is funded through a total of about $900,000 in grants from several private foundations, including the Independence Foundation and the Commonwealth Foundation. The donors, Lang said, see this partnership between Penn and the West Philadelphia community as beneficial for both sides, and attach a high value to quality elder care. University Secretary Rosemary McManus, Christine Allen, the center's director, and Pennsylvania State Rep. James Roebuck (D-Phila.) also spoke at the event. Besides basic medical and nursing care, LIFE's members receive physical and occupational therapy, social work, nutritional and personal care and transportation, all tailored to their personal needs. Lang estimated that LIFE will eventually have 150 members, with 70 to 75 of them actually receiving care each day. This is the first site in eastern Pennsylvania of the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly, a congressionally authorized system of capitated care in which the facility receives a set monthly fee for each member and in return provides all necessary care. St. Agnes Medical Center/CHI, one of the University of Pennsylvania Health System's newest affiliates, also runs a LIFE site in South Philadelphia.