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From left: Jane Potter, M.D., Paul and Lori Hogan and UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., at Wednesday’s ground breaking for the Home Instead Center for Successful aging. |
“In 42 months, the first baby boomer will turn 65,” Hogan said on Wednesday at a groundbreaking at UNMC for the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging. From that point on, he said, about 20,000 people will turn 65 each day — a trend that will lead to 1 billion people being 65 or older worldwide by the year 2030.
Long story short, Hogan said, the need for quality health care for seniors is great and growing.
That’s why, Hogan and his wife, Lori, who together co-founded Home Instead – the world’s largest private provider of non-medical home care to seniors – became the principal donors for the new center on the UNMC campus.
The Home Instead Center for Successful Aging will offer specialized services aimed at helping seniors age better and live healthier lives. It will be the only free-standing center tied to an academic medical center focused on aging in Nebraska and the region. The closest similar center is at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
“Baby boomers often talk of how they will age differently, how 50 is the new 30,” Hogan said. “Well, regardless of how they try and mask the reality that they are getting older, it’s just going to happen.”
Helping people age successfully, remain independent and in their own homes, is a main focus of Home Instead as well as the staff of the UNMC geriatrics department.
Hogan said he is excited by the possible advances in senior care that could be achieved by UNMC clinicians, researchers and educators working in the new center.
UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said the Hogans’ generosity and vision will have a ripple affect that could benefit people worldwide.
“This partnership between UNMC and Home Instead will allow us to take senior care to a whole new level,” Dr. Maurer said.
This is so, in part, because the three-level, 31,000 square foot center will allow all the various disciplines incorporated in senior care to work together under one roof, said Jane Potter, M.D., professor and chief of the section of geriatrics and gerontology at UNMC.
The Home Instead Center for Successful Aging will create physical space for both the sections of geriatric medicine and geriatric psychiatry, which currently include six geriatric physicians, five geriatric psychiatrists and one geriatric psychologist.
This will allow UNMC to train students, residents and fellows to work across disciplines to provide the best care possible to the aging population.
“Groundbreakings are really a time to say thank you,” Dr. Potter said. “I woke up this morning and I was enormously grateful.”
Grateful, Dr. Potter said, for the dedication of the UNMC geriatric staff as well as donors such as the Hogans.
“Thank you, Paul and Lori, for not only having a great idea but for turning that great idea into a wonderful resource for caring for the aging,” Dr. Potter said.
Dr. Potter also expressed her gratitude for The Kinman Oldfield Family Foundation — which has pledged significant support for the new center.
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Doug Carlo of Kinman Oldfield Family Foundation, Paul and Lori Hogan, and University of Nebraska Regent Bob Whitehouse dig in during the groundbreaking for the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging. |
“I knew Col. Oldfield,” Dr. Potter said. “I know he would be delighted with this (gift to UNMC.)”
The $10.2 million Home Instead Center for Successful Aging will be funded entirely by private donations and will sit just south of the Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation at 38th Avenue and Leavenworth Street.
It will create a centralized location for geriatric medicine and psychiatry on the UNMC campus. Construction is expected to be completed in the spring of 2010.
The Hogans are Omaha natives and longtime supporters of the University of Nebraska. Paul Hogan is a 1985 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Lori Hogan is a 1984 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Headquartered in Omaha, Home Instead Senior Care was founded in 1994 and now has 810 franchise businesses in 15 countries. The company’s franchise owners employ 50,000 workers called CAREGivers. These CAREGivers help seniors with the activities of daily living, which enables seniors to live in their own homes where most desire to stay. CAREGivers also provide similar services to seniors who reside in care facilities.
This spring, President Bush and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez presented Home Instead Senior Care with the Presidential ‘E’ Award, the highest honor the federal government can give to American people, firms or organizations that have made significant contributions to the increase of American exports.
What others are saying:
“The Hogans are delightful people and they have a great purpose in life. This is a great day for UNMC and the state of Nebraska as a whole.” John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the College of Medicine
“The Hogans’ foresight to partner Home Instead with the expertise in geriatrics care at UNMC is remarkable and stands to benefit countless seniors for years to come.” Clarence Castner, president of the University of Nebraska Foundation
“Anyone who works in geriatrics at UNMC is very excited by this. We share a vision with Home Instead, particularly when it comes to helping seniors live more independently with a higher quality of life. It think it’s a great partnership.” Bill Lyons, M.D., UNMC geriatrician
“I’m a geriatric psychiatrist by trade and I’m really excited that we will be able to work side by side with the other specialties that are involved with senior care. Senior care is an interdisciplinary endeavor and being able to work in the same building is really going to be great for everybody.” Steven Wengel, M.D., chairman of the UNMC Department of Psychiarty
“We’re all getting older. You can’t escape it. This is all about finding better ways to improve our aging to allow people to stay home longer and not have to go into a nursing home. It’s really an important thing for all of society.” Rubens Pamies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs
“This is all about providing the best possible care for elders in our state. The interdisciplinary facility will bring together nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical therapists, physicians, social workers, pharmacists and others. It will allow us to work in teams. The days of one doctor doing it all are gone. It doesn’t work any more. Getting the geriatric psychiatrists together in the same building with the other geriatric caregivers creates a more collegial environment and helps generate the spontaneity that leads to new research ideas.” Edward Vandenberg, M.D., UNMC geriatrician
“This is a game changer. We’re all going to need the services this facility will provide. It’s a good day.” Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean, College of Pharmacy
“This building will be very important to our allied health professionals. Some of them – physical therapists, physician assistants and medical nutritionists – will be providing direct services to patients. In addition, we are working on several wellness initiatives that are designed to promote healthy and successful aging. This will be a fantastic addition to the UNMC campus.”Kyle Meyer, Ph.D., associate dean, School of Allied Health Professions