Pittsboro, NC (Dec. 6, 2013) – Piedmont Health SeniorCare, an innovative program for senior citizens that has won praise and growing popularity, will host a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on for its newest facility on Dec. 12.

The event is scheduled for 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the SeniorCare facility, 163 Chatham Business Drive in Pittsboro. It is free and open to the community at large and will include refreshments and door prizes.

Speakers at the event include Pittsboro Mayor Bill Terry and Dennis Streets, director of the North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services.

The site will serve up to 150 senior residents (55 years and older) of Chatham, Orange, and Lee counties.

Piedmont Health SeniorCare is a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a growing model of care as the nation seeks to contain health-care costs while maximizing quality of care. Similar to goals of the Affordable Care Act, PACE assigns accountability to the provider, and offers coordination of care and medical homes to the patient (“participant”). PACE programs offer comprehensive services designed to allow seniors who might ordinarily move to a nursing facility to remain at home instead. The care is coordinated by an interdisciplinary team from 12 disciplines, who together address the individual medical needs of each participant, with an emphasis on wellness and prevention. Program participants attend the Day Health Center on a regular basis where they receive the majority of services (including recreational activities), but additional services are provided at home or by contracted community providers.

Piedmont Health SeniorCare is not alone in establishing this site and is grateful to its many partners for their support of the PACE model. The Chapel Hill-based Carol Woods Retirement Community has provided substantial support of this new facility, including a van, piano, and a recent $10,000 gift to support transportation of the program’s seniors. Carol Woods has provided strategic direction and community engagement in the program’s development.

The Duke Endowment recently awarded a $300,000 grant to the Carol Woods Retirement Community in order to support the start-up of the new Piedmont Health SeniorCare facility in Pittsboro. Based in Charlotte and established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is a private foundation that strengthens communities in North Carolina and South Carolina by nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits. Since its founding, it has distributed more than $3 billion in grants. The endowment shares a name with Duke University and Duke Energy, but all are separate organizations.

Carolina Meadows, a continuing care retirement community in southern Chatham County, has also assisted in the establishment of this site, including generous donations of equipment and furnishings, as well as two quilts made by their residents that hang on display in the Pittsboro Day Center.

UNC Department of Family Medicine has partnered with PHSC to establish a teaching and training component to this site. The State Employees Credit Union Foundation provided financing via a low-interest loan.

Piedmont Health also received a $262,374 grant earlier this year from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust for the new SeniorCare facility in Pittsboro. The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust works to improve the quality of health care for North Carolina residents in financial need. The organization is located in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Pittsboro is Piedmont’s second PACE site; its first PACE site was opened in 2008 in Burlington. There are currently eight operational PACE programs in the state, a number that is rapidly growing. The Pittsboro site is the state’s ninth PACE site and the first expansion site from an existing PACE provider.

Piedmont Health SeniorCare is nonprofit and part of Piedmont Health Services, Inc., which also operates seven community health centers in North Carolina including the Moncure and Siler City Community Health Centers in Chatham County.

Piedmont Health SeniorCare-Pittsboro is located at 163 Chatham Business Drive. For more information, call (919) 545-7337 or visit: www.piedmonthealthseniorcare.org