Firstenburg grant helps bring PACE Medicare facility, senior apartments to Clark County

The upcoming Felida Park Senior Housing + PACE project is one building that addresses two major gaps in Clark County. It adds 65 affordable apartments for low-income seniors to an area in a housing deficit, and combines that housing with a facility to support those who are frail and using Medicaid or Medicare – what Chief of Providence PACE Susan Tuller calls “the best kept secret in healthcare.”

“This is the integration of social and medical models to wrap around people to age successfully in community,” she said.

PACE, or the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, has been around for 35 years, but this will be its first Clark County facility. Providence is sponsoring the program, which partners with state Medicaid and Medicare to provide comprehensive health care services. It’s open to people 55 and older who live in the area and have a chronic condition qualifying them for nursing home care.

Located at 12314 NW 36th Ave., the 8,589-square-foot PACE facility will be on the first floor of Felida Park Senior Housing and serve as a health care center and social hub. Its interdisciplinary team will include social workers, primary care physicians, nursing case management, speech, occupational and physical therapists, dieticians and spiritual care providers. Social and therapeutic programs, group therapies, meals and activities will be offered.

The Firstenburg Foundation granted $430,000 to the project to help build out the shell of the PACE facility with construction starting sometime this summer. The total PACE project cost is $4 million.

Brian McCarl is the executive director of Beaverton, Ore.-based nonprofit Specialized Housing Inc. that is heading up this two-for-one project. He said the foundation filled a funding gap at a critical milestone.

“Their commitment helped Providence get a green light to do this,” McCarl said. “I’m thrilled for Clark County.”

With seven existing PACE facilities in Washington state, Felida will be the eighth. McCarl said groups like Clark County Public Health, Vancouver Housing Authority and the Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities of Southwest Washington have long been trying to bring PACE to the Vancouver area.