PACE’s services continued at home during viral storm

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald
 
It has been a year since seniors have walked through the doors of the two PACE (Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly) Greater New Orleans day centers, but that doesn’t mean essential medical services weren’t rendered to the more than 150 elderly adults who are daily clients.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses, caregivers, nurse practitioners and doctors paid house calls, when necessary, to deliver rehabilitative therapy, medications, personal care, rides to doctor visits and even prepared daily meals for many participants who did not have family members at home.

“If there was a need to see one of the nurse practitioners, they were there,” said Marianite Sister Marjorie Hebert, president and chief executive officer Catholic Charities Archdiocese New Orleans.

PACE is an affiliated ministry of Catholic Charities.

“Our staff did a wonderful job,” Sister Marjorie said. “We might have had to change the way we administered services, but we were able to handle all of their medical needs. We had no emergency crisis of any kind during the whole time. We were able to maintain a very smooth medical operation. … There was a high degree of satisfaction.”

In addition, PACE social workers held a Zoom talk to offer tips for caregivers at home.

PACE back at full speed
On May 3, PACE reopened its two sites – the Shirley Landry Benson site at 4201 North Rampart St. in Bywater and Hope Haven St. John Bosco at 1131 Barataria Blvd. in Marrero. The resumption of services with a full staff included offering primary care, rehabilitation, nutritional counseling, medications, personal care, group activities as well as transportation to and from the centers and to specialty physician visits. The centers are following CDC guidelines for masks and social distancing, under the leadership of new medical director Dr. Brian Cruz, a longtime Ochsner physician with a speciality in palliative care.

Just two days later, participants engaged in a Cinco de Mayo celebration, said Sister Marjorie. And, on May 11, she gave a welcoming address before the Shirley Landry Benson PACE Center was blessed to officially reopen both sites.

Nursing home ‘without walls’
The PACE GNO day centers were at full capacity of 195 clients when COVID-19 hit in March 2020, Sister Marjorie said.

“It’s a nursing home without walls,” Sister Marjorie said. “They come for the activities during the day. During the pandemic, we had to bring PACE to their homes.”

When COVID-19 guidelines  forced PACE to close the centers, its number of active clients dropped to approximately 155, but services continued.

“For these last 13 months, we have been sending staff, at times to their homes, to look after their needs to make sure their medicines were taken, and we tried to address whatever we could,” Sister Marjorie said. “For some, we made sure they were able to connect to things on an iPad to get involved in activities and be as engaged as they could.”

The pandemic proved the importance of PACE to clients, Sister Marjorie said. PACE learned that some participants live alone in their homes, while others have family members there. But often, those family members needed to work, so PACE shifted gears. “We had CMAs (certified medical assistants) doing all the daily things – depending on the physical abilities and disabilities of the participants,” Sister Marjorie said, adding that additional personnel had to be hired to meet client needs. “We didn’t miss a beat in that regard … but, we could tell they were feeling the disengagement and the lack of socialization. That is one of the biggest things they get in going to daycare facilities – the interaction..”

The site reopenings were welcome to both the participants and those serving them each weekday.

“We couldn’t wait for this (reopening),” Sister Marjorie said. “We longed for it. If we could have done it sooner, we would have. … I don’t know who needed whom the most – the staff needed the participants to come back to the center as much as they needed to come back to us.”

For details or information, call (504) 835-0006 or visit www.pacegno.org.

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