A Quarterly Report
These are exciting times at Full Life Care. We just closed the books on an eventful 2018, and as we look ahead to the coming months, I believe that, together, we will build upon our successes. I would like to share some highlights with you.
Stronger Together
2018 was our first full year as an affiliate of Transforming Age, a growing network of not-for-profit services, products and partnerships focused on enhancing the lives of seniors. Learn more at the Transforming Age website. Full Life Care, with our in-home and community-based services, has strengthened and expanded this network. Transforming Age, in turn, has been a supportive partner, helping us to grow some programs and launch new ones.
New programs
Full Life’s Health Home program completed its first full year in 2018. This program provides personalized support and health coaching to individuals who have a heightened risk for hospitalization. Full Life is both a direct provider and also manages a network of other Health Home service providers. Together, we serve more than 450 individuals.
Launched in 2018, Foundational Community Supports is a program to help individuals who are homeless or at risk of losing their housing. It is funded through a Medicaid Innovation Grant that is administered by Amerigroup, a managed care company. Our team works directly with clients to find housing, prevent evictions and help with just about any situation that places someone at risk of becoming homeless.
Changing programs
Everyone at our Solstice Behavioral Health program continued their amazing work to support individuals with mental health diagnoses, supporting their health and safety while helping them remain in the community. The Art and Wellness Studio program shines as an innovative beacon in the community-based behavioral health environment. Recently, Solstice received a Medicaid Innovation award to help lay the groundwork for increased integration with primary care providers. This will be the future of behavioral health. Watch for more to come on this exciting program.
In 2018, Full Life made the difficult decision to close our two assisted living homes, Buchanan Place and Gaffney House. For nearly 20 years, both did outstanding work to serve individuals with dementia. However their small-scale size, combined with the increasing costs of operating in the City of Seattle made the programs no longer financially viable. We are proud of our employees, and look forward to welcoming them to other programs within Full Life and the Transforming Age network.
New location
Full Life opened a second administrative office, located in Federal Way, to expand our reach and better serve clients in the South King County region. Using this office will be staff from our growing Home Care, Health Home, Community Transitions, and Foundational Community Supports programs.
What’s next?
As the 2019 State Legislative Session ramps up, we are actively working with our partners at SEIU Healthcare 775 and LeadingAge Washington on legislative initiatives to improve Medicaid funding for both Adult Day Health and Home Care. Adult Day Health reimbursement rates have been virtually flat for the past decade while the Seattle minimum wage increases. Home Care rates also need to catch up to the minimum wage, and still carry cuts made years ago to the administrative portion. We are challenged to adequately pay for valuable services and employees when a major source of income—Medicaid—doesn’t increase at similar levels. As in the past, we will continue to rely on charitable contributions to help fill the gap.
Strategic Plan
With the future in mind, Full Life is developing a strategic plan to articulate goals and measures in response to challenges and opportunities. The health care environment is evolving, with a growing emphasis on managing chronic health conditions and treating the “social determinants of health” (issues like homelessness, nutrition, poverty, substance use, and isolation). Health insurers and managed care companies are looking beyond traditional medical business models of doctor and hospital visits.
As the paradigm shifts, medical systems will rely on community-based providers like Full Life Care to help address myriad issues that cannot be solved with pills and procedures. The effective and cost-saving services we provide make Full Life increasingly valuable to health care providers. We are already on that track—some of our programs are already funded through managed care providers. Our Adult Day Health program is embarking on a collaboration with the University of Washington Post-Acute Care system to transition patients out of the hospital with the support of the clinical and social services provided at our day health centers.
Thank You
This is an exciting time at Full Life Care. It is also a challenging time with fiscal constraints inherent in serving a population that is largely low-income. We stay true to our mission and have upheld it for nearly 40 years. It is an honor to work together to keep this mission alive and to continue improving the lives of those we serve.
Thank you for being Full Life.
