Earlier this week, NHF Chief Strategy Officer, Danielle Cameron, joined service providers and philanthropic organizations for a learning session with Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the Administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). The event gathered important feedback on the intersection of community, health care, and health policy, with the overall goal of improving health care services for beneficiaries.
During the meeting, NHF shared its plans to address older adult homelessness by building on a proven model of recuperative care and having been the recent recipient of a 43,000 sq. ft., soon-to-be Project Homekey facility dedicated to older adults experiencing homelessness.
NHF also offered its recommendations for demonstration programs focused on tailored models of care for this vulnerable population and funding opportunities to support them. In particular, NHF discussed California’s expansion of Medi-Cal, which brings new opportunity through its “In Lieu of Services” (ILOS) to create a care model that adequately addresses the health challenges of older adults. Furthermore, NHF highlighted the broader potential of these programs, to act as community hubs that can bring about larger population health improvements through community engagement and activism. NHF presented its unique framework that advances community-led health improvements, with its recuperative care/housing sites serving as the foundation for community assessments, activism, and programming – a model NHF has already replicated in multiple cities throughout Southern California.
Lastly, we were happy to hear from several leaders in the space about alternative best practices, including The California Endowment, Grantmakers in Health, National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and The Commonwealth Fund. We’ve found, particularly through hosting our own listening sessions this past July, that more collaborative opportunities for community based organizations to share knowledge with each other is essential, particularly given Medi-Cal’s impending expansion. We thank CMS for allowing us to share more about our model and upcoming plans for senior housing!
