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Mostly Cloudy Hospital receives $2 million for geriatric center
Funding for Glen Cove Hospital’s Geriatric Center of Excellence would allow for more advanced and compassionate care for seniors, Kerri Anne Scanlon, the hospital’s executive director said. And it’s needed now more than ever because in the last decade, there has been a 20 percent increase of adults over the age of 65 in Nassau County. And nursing homes and facilities represent 20 percent of all facilities in the county. But funding is needed.
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi’s announcement on March 21 that $2 million in federal funding has been secured for the center was cause for celebration at GCH. “This is allowing us to continue to fortify an infrastructure in place for the care of the elderly,” Scanlon explained.
Dr. Maria Torroella Carney, chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Northwell Health, Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck, and Christine Rice, executive director of Glen Cove Senior Center joined Suozzi and Scanlon for the announcement.
“The aim of the center is to promote longevity, improve the quality of care for older individuals, and support caregivers and their loved ones facing complex-care needs,” Carney said. “It also is designed to serve as a catalyst for much needed change, both in scientific and clinical approaches to how we deliver multidisciplinary care for older adults and those with serious illness.”
Suozzi spearheaded the funding, he said, for several reasons, citing the first based on his own experience of taking care of his grandparents and parents.
“It’s always been a very big personal thing for me based upon my personal experience of trying to figure out how to deal with people aging, especially when they are sick, and dealing with my parents trying to navigate the bureaucracy of healthcare when you’re a senior citizen,” he said. “This is a very real issue in real people’s life.”
There is a problem across the country, he said, with the rise in the senior population with fewer family members to provide care. There are 10,000 new seniors every day, people are living longer than they ever have lived before, and they are dealing with more health issues. “We have a national issue that needs to be addressed,” Suozzi said.
Glen Cove’s assisted living facilities, homes, housing developments, and senior centers is another reason Suozzi said he fought for GCH’s senior care center.
GCH is uniquely situated to set a model for the country on senior care with their Geriatric Center of Excellence, which opened December 2020.
“This center is already providing some of the best care for seniors in the region and has helped revitalize the hospital,” Suozzi said. “We have an opportunity not only to develop programs for seniors locally, but the center can serve as a regional and national model for best practices on how to provide seniors and support to our aging population.”
Although the hospital downsized in 2013 and almost closed in 2014, GCH has made a comeback. For geriatric care, it is the first community hospital in New York and the 19th in the nation to be awarded Level 1 geriatric accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians. The hospital’s also gained recognition as an Age-Friendly Center of Excellence by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. As part of the hospital’s inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, the hospital has been developing a groundbreaking program geared for patients with Parkinson’s disease, and a Mindful Care Unit for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
