South Cove Manor Hosts Secretary of Elder Affairs Elizabeth Chen for a Conversation on Elder Care in the Commonwealth

麻州老人事務署署長陳倩(右三)拜會中華頤養院，和中華頤養院董事長雷偉志(右起)，院長陳力，共同創辦人阮陳金鳳，陳秀英，以及執行長Bill Graves合影。(中華頤養院提供)

                    (Boston Orange) 麻州新上任的老人事務署(EOCA)署長陳倩(Elizabeth Chen)，8月15日專程拜會中華頤養院，了解麻州地區的老人服務概況。

           中華頤養院共同創辦人暨董事陳秀英，主席雷偉志召集了一場午餐會，介紹中華頤                                     養院從1985年，由華埠社區一群熱心人在波士頓華埠創建，然後於2014年擴張，遷至昆士市華盛頓街現址，從平地新建的經過。

           中華頤養院執行長Bill Graves從照顧服務提供者的角度，綜述了他所觀察到的麻州長期照顧業現狀。他也感謝麻州議會及麻州州長查理貝克(Charlie Baker)，在簽署通過的2020會計年度麻州財政預算中，包括了給頤養院等機構的新編5000萬元醫療補助經費。

                                      根據Graves所說，費用補償方面的挑戰，影響了照顧品質，也威脅到許多耆英們賴以為家的頤養院等機構的生存。麻州2020會計年度增列的醫療補助經費，將對長期照顧業者解決經費效率不足問題大有助益。該預算也設立了護理機構緊急任務小組(Nursing Facility Emergency Task Force)來提供建議，以確保頤養護理機構的持續性。

           當天出席參與討論的人，包括中華頤養院院長陳力，護理主任Mary Louise，共同創辦人阮陳金鳳，以及社區志工Thomas Chen。       (Boston Orange) South Cove Manor at Quincy Point, a non-profit rehabilitation and care community located in Quincy, welcomed Elizabeth Chen, Secretary, Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA), on August 15th for a substantive conversation on elder care in the Commonwealth.           South Cove Manor Founder and Board Member Helen Chin Schlichte and Chairman Richard Lui convened the luncheon meeting with an introduction outlining South Cove Manor’s founding in 1985 by members of Boston’s Chinatown community, and the expansion of South Cove and its 2014 move to its current, newly constructed community on Washington Street.
         CEO Bill Graves shared insights on the current state of long-term care in Massachusetts from the provider and caregiver perspective and expressed his appreciation to the Massachusetts Legislature for passing, and Governor Charlie Baker for signing, the FY 2020 budget which includes $50 million in new Medicaid funding for nursing facility care.
          According to Graves, reimbursement challenges have impacted the quality of care and threatened the viability of many nursing centers that are home to frail elders across the Commonwealth. He stated, “The FY 2020 budget increase for Medicaid funding will go a long way in helping us address inefficiencies in funding for long term care.” The budget also establishes a Nursing Facility Emergency Task Force to make recommendations to ensure the sustainability of the nursing facility sector.
         Joining in the discussion, which was followed by a tour of the campus, were South Cove Manor at Quincy Point Administrator Li Chen, Director of Nursing Mary Louise Butler, Founder Amy Guen and community volunteer Thomas Chen.