Alana Healthcare has announced the acquisition of Eustis-based Preferred Home Health Providers, which provides in-home health care services in Lake, Marion, and Sumter counties. Founded in 2006 by Bernadine Ukah, Preferred Home Health Providers has been recognized and certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for its high-quality care and service, for promoting health, and for improving the quality of life of its patients.
Throughout my over 25-year career in health care, my goal has been to keep patients from falling through the cracks. Never has this been more tested than during the past three years. Having started at the bedside as an intensive care unit nurse, I know all too well the challenges both patients and caregivers face. My passion and commitment to health care is rooted in a deep understanding of all types of care, which has allowed me to experience firsthand how disconnected the health care delivery system can be. My focus is to break down silos across the continuum and improve the coordination of care to help patients and their family members gain more control over their medical journey, and in the process further enable better health outcomes.
Dramatically improving the pay and status of direct care workers may be a good place to start. If you’re reading this column, odds are you’re aware the U.S. population is aging and older Americans are living longer, on average. Still, the numbers are striking. For instance, average life expectancy for men at age 65 in 1950 was 13.1 years and for women 16.2 years, according to the Social Security Administration. The current figures are 18.09 years and 20.7 years, respectively. “Aging is actually living, and that longevity is a good thing,” said Ai-jen Poo, president of National Domestic Workers Alliance and executive director of Caring Across Generations during a recent panel discussion at Columbia University’s 2022 Age Boom Academy entitled Caregiving and Our Longer Lives. “Aging means longer to learn and to connect and to love and to teach.”
Services of the Hospital at Home program: In-person nurses come to the house a minimum of twice daily. A physician or an APP sees the person in person, or they can do a telehealth visit via video conference. We provide all the medications, lab tests, physical therapy, any imaging that's needed, of course, all transportation to get to and from those imaging appointments. What Parkland also does is provide remote patient monitoring equipment to monitor vitals 24/7.
From bed in her East Greenwich Township house, Katherine Vaczi can see through patio doors into the backyard flower and vegetable garden she has been tending for more than 40 years. The sight inspires the 81-year-old to get up and start her day. “There’s always something I need to do,” Vaczi, a retired teacher, said on a recent afternoon while showing her Gloucester County property to a visitor and pointing out where she had just cleared a bed of celosia after the seeds had dropped.
Starting in January the government will increase social security benefits by 8.7% to offset inflation. While that was welcome news to many seniors, one specific senior that relies on social security still has an issue with the amount of money that she receives. "I just want the politicians to pay attention to us, we're not just a bunch of dead meat in these nursing homes, we're real people," said Linda Poore during a phone interview with First Coast News in February.