Total Senior Care

I want to thank Dan Harris, PACE Project Manager at HomeCare & Hospice, for his presentation during the STHCS Board of Director's meeting Tuesday. For those of you unable to attend, I would like to share with you information regarding the organization's Total Senior Care Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

PACE is a model of care based on the belief that seniors should have options regarding care for their health needs that allow them to remain in their homes for as long as possible. The program is for people age 55 or older that need to be in a nursing home but are able live safely in the community. The program provides coordinated preventive, acute and long-term care services. The care is provided by a team which, per federal regulations, includes the PACE director, medical director, primary care physician, home care manager, social worker and rehabilitation therapy manager.

Construction on the Total Senior Care Center, which will be located on Union Street in Olean, is scheduled to be complete this June. HomeCare & Hospice is planning on opening the center in August or September.

Legal Aspects of EMS...

STEMS, in conjunction with the Southwestern Regional EMS Council, is holding the second annual EMS Spring Training. The focus for this year's conference, Legal Aspects of EMS and Geriatric Prehospital Care, was chosen based on feedback during our Sick Kids conference held last spring. The conference will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, March 28, and from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, at the Premier Banquet Center in Olean. Through the training EMT personnel may be able to obtain 10 hours of CME credits.

Topics include selective spinal motion restriction - geriatric considerations, intervention techniques for dementia and Alzheimer's patients, elderly abuse/neglect and much more. Speakers discussing the legal aspects of EMS include Allegany County District Attorney Terry Parker, Cattaraugus County District Attorney Ed Sharkey and Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Department Detective Bill Welling.

Registration for the conference is $35 for EMS providers serving in the 92 agencies within the STEMS catchment area and $45 for all others, if the registration is received by March 20. After that date, registration is $60 for everyone. The fee includes refreshments and snacks on Friday and breakfast and lunch on Saturday. For more information or a registration form, please contact Cathi and Josh by calling 372-0614 or via e-mail at user@example.com or user@example.com.

Tobacco Company in the Southern Tier???

Patrick O'Connell, STHCS Cessation Center Coordinator, briefly spoke at a Cattaraugus County Legislature meeting this week regarding a tobacco company opening in Kill Buck in Cattaraugus County. Despite statements against allowing the company to qualify for EDZ benefits by Pat; Barbara Hastings, County Health Director; and Dr. Gilbert Witte, a pulmonologist, a resolution passed to that will allow the Lake Erie Tobacco Company to qualify for EDZ tax incentives/benefits. Pat said the feeling among some of the supportive legislators was that a $5 million investment and the creation of some 50-60 new jobs is too great an opportunity to simply 'let it go.' He said the vote was 12 to 8 in favor with 10 being the magic number for the legislation to pass.

Pat said that the plan is not finalized and that the legislation passed was more about approving the environmental studies to move forward with the company opening in Kill Buck. The legislators will vote after another public forum on March 26 at the Cattaraugus County Building in Little Valley. This will be the vote that determines whether the Lake Erie Tobacco Company project moves forward. Pat plans to continue speaking out against the project and anyone interested in joining him should contact him by calling 372-0614 or via e-mail at user@example.com.