GenCare Lifestyle Launches Whole Life Connect

TACOMA, Wash., Jan. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GenCare Lifestyle at Point Ruston, a wellness-focused, 159-apartment retirement community at Point Ruston announced today an innovative partnership to improve the health and wellness of active adults in the South Sound.

Partnering with the state's leading healthcare experts at MultiCare Health System, DispatchHealth, Olympic Sports & Spine and others, GenCare plans to take care of the wellness needs of residents before hospitalization or a trip to the emergency room is required. The new local partnership is designed to improve access to needed healthcare services, increase convenience, and if possible, bring healthcare to the resident at their GenCare home.

"Ultimately, we want to shift what has been viewed as patient-centered care to an intentional and structured approach to resident-centered wellness," said GenCare Lifestyle founder and CEO, Leon Grundstein. 

"The exceptional healthcare systems minutes from our doors play a vital role in the wellbeing of our community. We believe that we can reduce the reliance on acute care by building a foundation of wellness interventions earlier in the healthcare continuum."

In addition to better connecting residents to important healthcare services in the community, including surgical, primary care, rehabilitation services and hospice, the new partnership hopes to strengthen outcomes and help residents through what can be a complex healthcare journey.

"We share a common vision with GenCare ? that healthcare can be better by making it easier and less complex for seniors to access hospital and other medical services," explains Christi McCarren, Senior Vice President, Retail & Community Based Care, "Our MultiCare teams will be working closely with GenCare staff, residents and their families, creating a concierge experience and helping them every step of the way."

Said DispatchHealth Chief Growth Officer Andrea Pearson, "With an aligned commitment to help older adults thrive where they feel most comfortable, DispatchHealth, MultiCare and GenCare are working together to provide a more holistic in-home care experience. By bringing health care services safely to the home, residents are able to live a long, healthy life on their terms."

The first program focus of the new partnership is the creation of the GenCare Joint Wellness program to serve residents when pain and lack of mobility starts to interfere with daily life.  Whether physical therapy or elective joint replacement/repair, residents will experience an optimal wellness journey that starts with personal fitness and nutrition support to strengthen the body and achieve pre-operative readiness.

"We understand that wellness and mobility are inextricably intertwined, said Olympic Sports & Spine CEO, Brian Thacker, DPT. "Our team of therapists is dedicated to helping individuals of all ages maximize their potential by helping them regain lost mobility, reduce pain, and return to a healthy, active lifestyle." 

The wellness focus continues through at-home recovery at GenCare with self-guided exercises and the support of GenCare's fitness and wellness experts, helping to keep residents moving well after the interventions of surgery and related physical therapy.

"While a joint replacement or repair is an important personal step for an active adult to achieve their fitness goals, we believe it should be a team sport ? and our team is there to support each resident that goes through this program with individualized coaching and encouragement," said GenCare's Corporate Director of Health and Wellness, Danielle Parker, RN.

Next on the horizon for the partnership are a series of educational seminars aimed at helping residents achieve more optimal health and wellness. 

The first public seminar planned at GenCare Lifestyle will focus on a significant cause of hospitalization for active adults ? falls. The seminar will feature Olympic Sports & Spine's Travis Muraoka, DPT and include a personalized fall risk assessment performed by the GenCare Fitness Team for each participant. Additionally, participants will be offered a follow-up assessment of their posture ? another important step in fall prevention. By combining fall risk score and an understanding of a person's baseline posture, GenCare offers personalized wellness tools GenCare residents can use right away. This event will be held Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m. at GenCare's new Point Ruston community.

"Our investment in wellness is exactly what our neighbors need," said Grundstein. "Working together with our partners including MultiCare, DispatchHealth and Olympic Sports & Spine, we think Whole Life Connect will be transformative."

The unique partnership between GenCare LifeStyle and MultiCare Health System was conceived by the new community's developer partner, PMB, a development firm with a strong history of partnering with healthcare systems to develop across the continuum of care.

"We believe that strong, wellness-focused retirement communities can make a huge positive impact in the lives of older populations, especially when paired with the resources of a dynamic healthcare system," said Jake Rohe, Partner at PMB. "A partnership between GenCare Lifestyle and MultiCare Health System made perfect sense."

Mark Burkemper, Managing Director at Harrison Street, the investment capital partner assisting with the development, said, "We're pleased to partner with GenCare Lifestyle and PMB to help bring this important project to life."

Said U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer, "The remaking of Point Ruston from a once-hazardous waste site into a thriving community has brought more jobs, economic opportunity, and housing to our region. I'm proud to celebrate GenCare's investment in our region and the opening of a new retirement community, which will ensure folks can live with dignity. This new facility will provide essential care to local retirees and great jobs in our region."

Residents will move into the new community in early February.

GENCARE LIFESTYLE

GenCare Lifestyle has served active adults for more than 20 years, operating six wellness-focused, retirement communities for residents in the Puget Sound. GenCare Lifestyle at Point Ruston includes 159 luxury active-living and assisted-living apartments, with 24 residences dedicated to memory care.

MULTICARE HEALTH SYSTEM

MultiCare Health System is a nonprofit health care organization based in Tacoma with more than 17,000 employees providing a comprehensive system of health across Washington and Northern Idaho. MultiCare includes more than 1,400 employed physicians and other caregivers committed to providing care throughout more than 200 primary care and specialty clinics, Washington's largest urgent care network, eight regional hospitals and a wide range of community outreach programs and partnerships.

DISPATCHHEALTH

DispatchHealth has redefined health care delivery to offer on-demand acute care and advanced medical care for people of all ages in the comfort of their own home. DispatchHealth's emergency trained medical teams are equipped with all the tools necessary to treat common to complex injuries and illnesses. DispatchHealth works closely with payers, providers, health systems and others to deliver care in the home to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits, as well as hospital stays and readmissions. For more information, visit DispatchHealth.com

OLYMPIC SPORTS & SPINE

Olympic Sports & Spine's mission is to provide its patients and employees with the opportunity to reach their full potential.  Since 1984 the organization has been committed to delivering both clinical and service excellence to its patients and to providing uncommon support and resources for its employees.  In 2019 Olympic Sports & Spine's 250 employees served over 26,000 patients at its 15 sites, achieving industry leading outcomes in a patient-centered environment.

PMB

PMB's mission is to improve healthcare delivery, effect change and positively impact communities. As a healthcare real estate developer focused on the continuum of care, PMB can provide the infrastructure to cure disease, heal families and empower the greatest minds in the industry. Healthcare is in our DNA. Our company is 100 percent focused on healthcare real estate across the continuum of care ? from community-centric health and wellness to health-focused seniors housing, outpatient, inpatient and post-acute care. PMB has developed over 100 facilities to date representing approximately 5.5 million square feet. The firm owns and manages 66 medical facilities comprising over 4.2 million square feet. For more information, visit www.pmbllc.com

HARRISON STREET 

Harrison Street is one of the leading investment management firms exclusively focused on alternative real assets. Since inception in 2005, the firm has created a series of differentiated investment solutions focused on demographic-driven, needs-based assets. The firm has invested across senior housing, student housing, healthcare delivery, life sciences and storage real estate as well as social and utility infrastructure. Headquartered in Chicago with an office in London, the firm has more than 150-employees and approximately $24.0 billion in assets under management. Clients of the firm include a global institutional investor base domiciled in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.harrisonst.com.

SOURCE GenCare Lifestyle