Next health and wellness event Wednesday, Dec. 20

Posted

The Pagosa Senior Center would like to thank Ronnie Zaday, Eileen Anderson and Linda Barber, the elves who so generously designed and decorated our tree entry in the Festival of Trees.

Health and wellness

The Senior Center has a pilot program expanding health and wellness services to Archuleta County seniors. The program includes wellness and blood pressure monitoring, or allows individual area seniors to discuss two subjects of their choice.

The next wellness event will be Dec. 20.

There is no charge for Medicare enrollees. Participant IDs will include Medicare card, photo ID and, if necessary, any supplemental insurances. No Medicaid is accepted at this time. Participants are encouraged to bring a list of their current medications.

Clinical assessment will be provided by Tabitha Zappone, FNP-C.

The goal of the outreach clinic is to provide care to those who are not able to travel.

San Juan Basin Area Agency on Aging: Enforcement of new regulations

By Kay Kaylor

I advocate for residents at Pine Ridge and BeeHive Homes as the ombudsman for Archuleta County. Federal and state laws protect residents, and although the second phase of the new federal long-term care regulations took effect Nov. 28, the nursing home industry has successfully challenged their enforcement.

According to the Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in July, and with details Nov. 24, that it will not fully enforce eight of the requirements for 18 months. CMS states that facility surveyors and providers need this time for education about the new laws, even though the revisions have been public since late 2016 and some rules existed earlier. These revisions to protect residents range from the baseline care plan to use of psychotropic medications to the smoking policy. Instead of fines or other penalties, CMS will require cited deficiencies to be corrected with plans and training. Research has shown that such remedies do not result in better outcomes for residents.

For example, a new rule requires facilities to develop an individualized care plan within 48 hours of a resident’s admission.

“This requirement was developed after the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that one in five residents experienced harm within, on average, 15 days of admission to a skilled nursing facility; 20 percent of these cases resulted in life-sustaining interventions or death,” CMA notes, and 59 percent were preventable.

Advocates such as CMA offer email alerts, free webinars and website articles on Medicare and health care. See medicareadvocacy.org.

For further information, you may call me at 403-2164 or send an email to ombudsman2@sjbaaa.org.

Memberships

Senior Discount Club memberships are offered Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Menu

Everyone is welcome to join us for lunch. If you are a senior (60 years and older), for only a $4 suggested donation, you are eligible for a hot meal, drink and a salad prepared by our kitchen staff.

The guest fee for those 59 and under is $10 and children 10 years and under can eat for $5 each. Access to the salad bar is only $6 for those under 60.

Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 14 — Sweet and sour pork, brown fried rice with egg, sugar snap pea medley, roasted cauliflower with red peppers and salad bar.

Friday, Dec. 15 — Swedish meatballs, stir-fried Chinese mustard greens, glazed carrots and salad bar.

Monday, Dec. 18 — Loaded baked potato, beef red chili, cream of broccoli soup and salad bar.

Tuesday, Dec. 19 — Chicken spaghetti, spinach with mushroom sauté, green peas and salad bar.

Wednesday, Dec. 20 — Sliced ham with pineapple sauce, gratin potatoes, roasted carrots with parsnips, salad bar and pumpkin pie.

Thursday, Dec. 21 — Shredded beef gyro, Mediterranean beets, eggplant gratin and salad bar.

Reservations and cancellations are required. You can make a reservation at 264-2167 by 9 a.m. the morning of the day you would like to dine in the Community Cafe at the Senior Center.

For your convenience, you can make your reservations in advance or have a standing reservation on days you know you will always attend. Please cancel if you cannot attend on your standing reservation days.