Council approves agreement with Senior Center, PACE

The Siouxland Senior Center and a program to provide a range of services for the "frail elderly" moved a step closer to finding a home in the former westside Hy-Vee store Monday.

The Sioux City Council unanimously approved a development agreement between Hospice of Siouxland and the Siouxland Senior Center board.

Linda Todd, director of hospice, explained the Program for All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly, or PACE, will help care for the "frail elderly" to allow them to stay in their own homes by providing them with a range of services.

"Sioux City is creating the model for the rest of the state," she said.

Before the two agencies can move into the building, the site plan will need to be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and adopted by the council. No date for the planning commission hearing was announced.

"You have before you a $4 million project," Marty Dougherty, economic development director, said. "The project calls for $1.5 million from PACE, $1 million from the senior center and $2.5 million from the city."

That money would pay for remodeling and equipping the 42,000 square-foot building, Bill Foulk, senior center board president, said.

The city owns the senior center building. Of the city's $2.5 million contribution, Dougherty said $600,000 would pay for land owned by the senior center adjacent to its building at 217 Pierce St. and other benefits, and $1.9 million would be a relocation assistance loan, with $900,000 forgivable if the senior center repays the city $1 million over the next 10 years.

"We feel we can raise this money and become self sufficient," Foulk stated. "We're doing this for the long-term."

The PACE operation would open in January, while the senior center would move in March 2008. The city needs the current senior center building for construction of the planned Stoney Creek Inn.

Dougherty said a number of buildings were considered for the senior center, including the city-owned Council Oak Center in Riverside Park and convention center, the Warrior Hotel, Hillcrest Shopping Center, Transit Plaza, the former Younkers department store downtown and Bomgaars, which might leave its downtown location and move to the former Cub Foods store.

"Eventually, they settled on the Hy-Vee store at 313 Cook St.," he noted.

Karen Van De Steeg, executive director of Health Inc., said the services provided through PACE "presents an exciting opportunity for the city to invest in the elders of our community. ... This is a private organization," whose clients would receive financial assistance through Medicare or Medicaid funding. "No tax dollars are going to us. We'll pay the rent" of $20,000 a year to the senior center.

Health Inc., is the umbrella organization that oversees the operations of the June E. Nylen Cancer Center, Hospice of Siouxland and Siouxland Paramedics. PACE would be operated by hospice until it is incorporated as a separate nonprofit agency.

In five years, Van De Steeg, a former mayor and council member, said PACE will employ 60 new health care providers with an annual payroll of $1 million.

In answer to Councilman Jason Geary's question as to why the program only would cover people living in Cherokee, Ida, Plymouth, Sioux and Woodbury counties in Iowa, Van De Steeg said, "It's taken us four years to get this far. There have been some preliminary discussions with Nebraska and South Dakota. .. .It's a long, bureaucratic process."

Councilman Jim Rixner said he supports the programs, but cautioned that the site plan still needs approval, saying, "This presents a conundrum, as you know, because of the Gospel Mission experience."

Last year, the planning commission and subsequently the council rejected the mission's application to move to the same former grocery store. Mayor Craig Berenstein said one of the main differences between the two programs is that people would stay overnight at the mission.

Senior Center and PACE Shared Services:
The two organizations will provide many shared programs in its new building on Cook Street that will be the first partnership of its kinds in the state of Iowa. Those include:
-- Meals on-site and to go.
-- Education programming on computers, finances, travel, foreign languages, politics, etc.
-- Recreational and wellness activities.
-- Health and fitness classes and programs, such as flu shots, health screenings, gym equipment.
-- Transportation.
-- One of 15 sites awarded a $500,000 federal grant for PACE.
-- PACE will be the first health care program to follow the client across all care settings including home, assisted living, nursing home, hospital to home again.
source:www.siouxcityjournal.com