On Friday, September 8 at 11:30 a.m., LIFE-NWPA will cut the ribbon on its first Alternate Care Setting Center (ACS) at 800 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA. LIFE-NWPA professionals and participants will be joined by U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA-16) and Pennsylvania State Representative R. Lee James.
LIFE-NWPA’s ACS will serve as a hub for socialization and provide services and resources to local seniors who participate in the LIFE program. The new Center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. LIFE participants can enjoy a hot breakfast, lunch, snacks, and wellness activities and games like Bingo, fun physical activities, and memory games.
LIFE also provides participants with transportation to and from the Day Center. The Center provides laundry rooms and showers, where participants can get assistance with bathing from personal care assistants or have a safe place to shower independently.
Marcie Campbell, Vice President of Marketing & Intake, noted that the ACS will allow LIFE-NWPA to continue serving seniors with chronic care needs and their families in their homes and communities. “LIFE-NWPA has successfully provided preventative and holistic healthcare to seniors since 2008. Seniors who would otherwise be residing in a skilled nursing facility or who may be at risk of institutional placement are cared for in the comfort of their own homes with the support of the LIFE-NWPA team. We look forward to continuing our work with the Venango community, social service agencies, and medical providers,” stated Campbell.
Due to this new site opening as an Alternate Care Setting, which allowed the site to open sooner to serve the seniors’ needs in this area, clinic and therapy services will be provided by LIFE’s neighboring centers in Clarion and Crawford Counties. LIFE-NWPA plans to open this site as a full PACE center as the census and need grow.
“Our relationships and collaboration with other service providers are why seniors who choose LIFE have a high success rate of aging in their own home and can avoid nursing home placement and hospital admissions,” said Campbell.
LIFE, or Living Independence For the Elderly, is part of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE. If you or a family member wants to live independently at home but are having difficulty managing without assistance, the LIFE-NWPA program is there to help. Services may include, but are not limited to, skilled care and in-home nursing, wound care, on-call nursing, and therapy as well as medications, medical supplies, home care, personal care, meals, transportation, day center access, support for caregivers, transportation and much more.
LIFE services are income-based and paid for through Medicare and Medicaid, so how much is covered depends on eligibility through those programs. There are no deductibles or copayments for any drug, service, or care approved by the LIFE team. If a participant is not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid, they may pay for LIFE privately.
For enrollment, the basic criteria include age 55 or older, being certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as eligible for nursing home-level care, and being a resident of one of the twelve counties LIFE-NWPA serves.
To learn about the LIFE program and the Venango County LIFE Center, call 1-844-456-5433, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or visit www.lifenwpa.org.
