WelbeHealth responds to Governor’s budget proposal

MENLO PARK, CALIF. – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom released his state budget proposal for fiscal year 2023-2024. The budget included several proposals in line with WelbeHealth’s policy priorities, including an increase in resources for Program for All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE) administration within the Department of Health Care Services and the maintenance of funding for key health and human services programs including CalAIM, behavioral health and housing programs, and ensuring access to health care for all Californians regardless of documentation or ability to pay. 

PACE enables frail seniors to remain in their homes while receiving coordinated, whole-person care and is a high-quality cost-effective alternative to nursing home care. In recent years, the number of PACE participants has increased significantly. 

“WelbeHealth applauds the governor’s support of Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and other proven care models for frail and vulnerable seniors.  For every participant that enrolls in PACE, it saves taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars while increasing their length and quality of life, allowing them to live at home.  Whether from an economic, health care or social standpoint, this may be one of the best investments the administration could make,” said Si France, M.D., chief executive officer of WelbeHealth, in response to the proposed budget.

To learn more about Governor Newsom’s full budget proposal, you can click here: 2023-24 State Budget Invests in Californians while Safeguarding State’s Future

About Program for All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE)

Program for All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE) is a comprehensive whole-person health care program for frail seniors living with chronic health conditions and other complex needs. As both insurers and providers, PACE organizations are able to seamlessly plan and manage all aspects of care for seniors – medical, social and supportive services. PACE participants are over the age of 55, live in a PACE service area and have been deemed eligible by the state for a nursing home level of care. 90% of PACE participants are dual eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

About WelbeHeatlh

WelbeHealth is a physician led, mission-driven organization founded to serve the most vulnerable seniors with compassionate and quality care, in a pure value-based model. WelbeHealth manages the entire care portfolio for participants including their primary and specialty care, ensuring they get to and from appointments, helping them navigate any necessary paperwork, providing assistance with activities of daily living, and ensuring they have enriched lives through social and emotional care. 

Contact: Cyndi Hillery, cyndi.hillery@welbehealth.com

WelbeHealth Deepens Commitment to Serving Seniors with Executive Hires

MENLO PARK, CALIF. – Physician-led healthcare organization WelbeHealth has added two seasoned executives to its leadership team: Chief Mission Officer Amy Shin and Chief People Officer Cathy Fraser. The leaders will play a pivotal role as WelbeHealth continues to deliver on its mission to serve the most vulnerable seniors in its communities.

As chief mission officer, Shin ensures that WelbeHealth’s mission is front and center in the community and among policy makers and our regulatory partners. She works closely with the operations teams to ensure that WelbeHealth is continually delivering on the highest standards of clinical quality and compliance. Shin has more than 25 years of healthcare leadership experience, most recently as chief executive officer of the Health Plan of San Joaquin, where she oversaw health care delivery for 350,000 MediCal lives in underserved areas of California.  Shin was the chief administrative officer at On Lok, the first PACE organization, and the Alameda Alliance for Health. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Southern California.

“Amy is a tremendously well respected and connected leader in California’s healthcare landscape, and she’s spent her career doing mission-driven work for vulnerable populations,” said Si France, MD, chief executive officer of WelbeHealth. “It is an honor that she would choose to support and advance WelbeHealth’s mission.”

As chief people officer, Fraser is responsible for the people strategies and services that enable team members to effectively fulfill and expand the WelbeHealth mission. Her focus is on maintaining WelbeHealth’s commitment to values and culture, developing career pathways, elevating team member experience, and investing in diversity, equity and inclusion. She most recently led human resources at Mayo Clinic, US News and World Report’s #1 Hospital, and Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC), a large national healthcare services company. Earlier in her career, she served as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and worked in various finance leadership roles at American Airlines, Sabre, and General Motors. Fraser earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

“When we started Welbe, we started with the belief that we have to care for each other before we can care for our participants, so our team has always been the center of our culture and focus,” said Si France.  “With Cathy, who led dynamic people functions at Mayo and Tenet, we’re making a significant commitment to putting our people first.”

About WelbeHealth

WelbeHealth is a physician-led organization founded in 2015 that coordinates senior care, including all medical and dental care, physical and occupational therapy, transportation to medical appointments, meals and personal care services, in a fully coordinated program. WelbeHealth teams close the loop on comprehensive care to keep the most vulnerable seniors living safely in their own homes. WelbeHealth delivers these services through the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a Medicare and Medicaid program. WelbeHealth operates four programs across California, including the cities of Stockton, Modesto, Pasadena, Long Beach and Fresno. WelbeHealth served more than 1,000 seniors in 2021.  For more information, please visit welbehealth.com.

Sepideh Chegini at WelbeHealth's PACE2021

An Appropriate Patient for WelbeHealth

WelbeHealth provider, Sepideh Chegini, MD, says her late father would have benefited from the company’s health services.

 

Sepideh Chegini, MD, says her father would have had a better quality of life if he had access to WelbeHealth services. Dr. Chegini serves as WelbeHealth’s chief medical officer. As such, she sees WelbeHealth’s quality of care and knows her dad would have been in good hands.

Dr. Chegini says, “I believe we could have cared for him at home, and we could have improved his quality of life. [WelbeHealth] would have definitely made a huge impact on my family’s quality of life.”

Nursing Home Alternative

Dr. Chegini’s father became quadriplegic after he was struck by a vehicle. Dr. Chegini’s family tried to care for her father in their home, but eventually moved him to a nursing home as his health declined. There, he lived out the remaining nine years of his life.

“We all live with that desire, that question in our mind, Well what if? What if we could have cared for him at home,” says Dr. Chegini.

She believes her father could have stayed at home with the help and support of a PACE program such as the one WelbeHealth offers.

“We want to get to a place where hospitals and skilled nursing facilities are no longer necessary for at least the majority of our participants,” she explains. “We want to make sure we can deliver the care where our participants need it the most—which is in their home environment.”

WelbeHealth PACE Services Care for the Mind, Body, and Spirit

WelbeHealth cares for the physical health of participants as well as their mental and emotional health. Dr. Chegini is passionate about WelbeHealth because it helps frail seniors, like her dad, continue to live in their homes and communities and get access to the holistic care they need.

“We want to make sure that we meet all our participants’ needs in a very holistic way—mind, body, spirit,” she says.

Watch our video of Dr. Chegini, telling her story.

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WelbeHealth Expands Executive Team with Key New Hire

Sepideh Chegini, MD, Joins WelbeHealth as Chief Medical Officer

MENLO PARK, Calif. (Feb. 17, 2021)  WelbeHealth, an all-inclusive medical care provider that serves frail elderly, helping them live independently in their own home, is proud to welcome Sepideh Chegini, MD, as Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Chegini will oversee clinical care delivery, ensuring that participants receive the highest standard of medical care while upholding WelbeHealth values and enhancing the experience of its teams. Under her leadership, WelbeHealth programs will further expand into underserved communities.

“We are grateful to have Sepi join WelbeHealth to help us ensure the highest quality care for our frail and vulnerable seniors,” said Si France, MD, Founder and CEO of WelbeHealth. “Sepi has an extensive track record of leading and innovating within value-based care to drive exceptional clinical quality, an inspired culture, and satisfaction in patient-centered care.”

Dr. Chegini is a physician leader fully dedicated to serving the most complex and vulnerable patient populations. With vast experience in value-based care delivery, she is passionate about supporting seniors with complex personal and medical obstacles through integrated, high-quality, and innovative care models.

Previously, she served as the Senior Medical Officer at CareMore Health, leading the institutional Special Needs Plans nationally, delivering person-centric, holistic care to the most vulnerable patients in the comfort of their homes while driving improvements in clinical outcomes and program growth. Under her leadership, the program expanded into ten new markets, reaching its all-time best outcomes by building and supporting high-performing teams and leading with compassion, curiosity, and dedication.

Dr. Chegini also designed and launched CareMore Health’s first palliative care program across Los Angeles and Orange counties to support patients approaching end of life and those with the most complex care needs through an interdisciplinary team-based approach.

“I see it as a true privilege to be in this position and to serve our most precious and vulnerable seniors, establish meaningful human connections with them, enrich their overall health care experience, and support them on their journey so they can reach their full potential,” said Dr. Chegini. “I will work hard to evolve and grow our programs and support our team members so that we can impact more lives and help improve our participants’ quality of life.”

Dr. Chegini obtained her medical degree at the University of Rochester, where she developed her passion for the biopsychosocial medicine model and palliative care. She trained in internal medicine at the George Washington University.

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WelbeHealth Administers First Shipment of COVID-19 Vaccines

LONG BEACH Dec. 31, 2020 – WelbeHealth is administering its first COVID-19 vaccines to its elderly participants this week, beginning at the organization’s center in Long Beach, California. The first seniors received their vaccinations on Wednesday, and additional vaccines will be administered next week.

WelbeHealth, a healthcare provider delivering integrated home-based care for frail seniors across California, received its first shipment of the vaccine earlier this week and rapidly deployed its plan to administer the injections to its highest-risk participants.

“This is a momentous occasion for our programs and our society. It’s essential that we all get vaccinated, not only for ourselves but for the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our communities,” said WelbeHealth President Matt Patterson, MD. “With each vaccine, we are literally saving the lives of our elders who have given so much to enrich our world.”

WelbeHealth provides care as part of PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), a longstanding Medicare and Medicaid program that enables older adults to live in the community instead of a nursing home.

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, WelbeHealth shifted to a remote home-based care model, providing each participant with an internet-connected WelbeLink computer tablet and delivering care in the home whenever possible. The program has a long track record of positive outcomes, including longer life expectancy and dramatically improved mental health and quality of life. The PACE model has proven dramatically safer for seniors during the pandemic, with 85-95 percent lower infection and mortality rates than nursing homes.

 

 

Tour our PACE center in Stockton, California

Check out our amazing PACE center in Stockton.

WelbeHealth Expands PACE into Long Beach and Fresno

WelbeHealth, operator of PACE programs across California, announced the enrollment of its first participants at LA Coast PACE in Long Beach and the upcoming launch of its fourth program, Sequoia PACE, in Fresno. The company has rapidly shifted to a remote home care model to serve seniors safely during the Covid-19 pandemic and continues to enroll new participants in its service areas across California.

PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) is a longstanding Medicare and Medicaid program that provides comprehensive medical and social services enabling older adults to live in the community instead of a nursing home or other care facility. The program has a long track record of positive outcomes, including longer life expectancy (by more than one year), improved quality of life, reduced rates of depression and dementia, and enhanced personal empowerment for seniors. PACE services are available at no cost to most participants as part of their Medicare and Medi-Cal benefits.

“In our HomePACE model of remote care, we help seniors stay healthy and thriving while avoiding nursing facilities, which have tragically become hotbeds for the spread of coronavirus,” said Si France, MD, Founder and CEO of WelbeHealth. “We’re excited to expand our all-inclusive model of care into the greater Long Beach and Fresno regions to serve more vulnerable seniors when they need it most.”

LA Coast PACE’s first participants will enroll with the program on June 1, receiving comprehensive home-based medical care, dental care, physical and occupational therapy, and personal care such as assistance with bathing and meals. The program serves nursing home-eligible seniors across the South Bay and Westside region, including in Long Beach, Artesia, Cerritos, Carson, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Culver City, and other nearby communities.

Sequoia PACE, WelbeHealth’s fourth PACE program, will open later this year to serve seniors in Fresno, Kings, Madera, and Tulare Counties, including in Fresno, Clovis, Madera, Hanford, Tulare, and surrounding cities.

“There has never been a stronger imperative to keep frail seniors living more independently in their homes and communities,” said Sophia Guel-Valenzuela, Regional Vice President & Executive Director of LA Coast PACE. “We’re eager to help more seniors reach their full potential and live with confidence, purpose, and joy.”

WelbeHealth has rapidly adapted to serve seniors during the Covid-19 pandemic, shifting to a remote home-based model to continue providing care while enabling participants to stay physically distanced to reduce the spread of the virus. The company’s PACE programs provide 4G LTE “WelbeLink” tablets to each senior, enabling regular video communications to manage medical and social needs. When in-person care is required, it’s performed by a single caregiver in the home whenever possible. The programs have even continued many of their usual games and recreational activities remotely, combatting the dangerous social isolation affecting many seniors today.

Older adults and people with underlying medical conditions are at particularly high risk during the coronavirus pandemic, underscoring the benefits of a home-based care model. According to the National PACE Association, the average PACE participant in the U.S. is 77 years old with 8 medical conditions, many of which are chronic conditions such as diabetes, dementia, coronary artery disease, and cerebrovascular disease. PACE serves as an alternative to nursing homes as reports emerge that nearly 40 percent of California’s coronavirus deaths have occurred in the facilities.

In addition to LA Coast PACE and Sequoia PACE, WelbeHealth also operates Stockton PACE in the Stockton-Modesto region and Pacific PACE, which serves Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, North Hollywood, and surrounding areas. The company continues to hire new team members at each of its programs across clinical and home health roles to meet community health needs.

For more about the seniorcare services that our PACE program provides, click here.

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