Bringing PACE to Georgia: A labor of love
By Kathleen D. Benton, DrPH, MA
President & Chief Executive Officer
For years, we’ve known that Georgia’s population is aging and that our healthcare system isn’t always equipped to meet the needs of older adults living with multiple chronic conditions and serious illness. Too many individuals and families struggle to coordinate medical appointments, manage medications, arrange transportation, and find the support they need to remain independent.
I believe we have a responsibility to do something about that.
At Georgia Care Innovators, we define innovation as recognizing an unmet need in our community and taking meaningful steps to address it. Sometimes that means developing a new program. Other times, it means looking beyond our own community to learn from organizations that have already found a better way.
That’s what led us to PACE, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.
Finding a better way to care for older adults
As I began researching approaches to caring for older adults with complex healthcare needs, I traveled to different states to learn from organizations that were successfully addressing these challenges. What I discovered was that several hospice organizations had embraced the PACE model, including organizations in California, Louisiana, and Kentucky.
That connection made sense to me. Hospice organizations have extensive experience providing coordinated, interdisciplinary care. They understand the importance of supporting patients and families around the clock, managing resources responsibly, and looking beyond individual medical conditions to care for the whole person. PACE builds on many of those same principles.
Through PACE, eligible older adults receive coordinated medical care and supportive services from an interdisciplinary team. The model brings together healthcare, therapy, transportation, nutrition, social services, and other resources to help participants remain safely in their homes and communities for as long as possible.
I saw in PACE an opportunity to address a significant gap in Georgia’s healthcare system. Rather than waiting until an older adult experienced a medical crisis or could no longer live independently, we could provide more comprehensive support earlier. The more I learned, the more convinced I became that Georgia needed this option.
Turning an idea into action
Of course, recognizing a better approach and making it available are two very different things. Our research revealed that bringing PACE to Georgia would require changes to state law. That realization began a journey of legislative advocacy that would take several years and involve countless conversations, meetings, and miles on the road.
There were mornings when I left Savannah at 5 a.m. to travel to Atlanta, meeting with legislators and policymakers to explain the PACE model and why it mattered. I would return home to be with my three children and then head back out the next day.
I traveled across Georgia, speaking with leaders in rural communities, Savannah, Atlanta, and throughout the state. We needed people to understand the challenges facing older adults and their families, and to recognize how PACE could provide another option for meeting those needs.
It was a three-to-four-year labor of love, and it was certainly not something I accomplished alone. It took the dedication of our leadership team, board, advocates, legislative partners, and many others who understood the opportunity and believed in what we were trying to accomplish. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who helped move this effort forward.
[Video: Dr. Kathleen Benton shares the journey to bring PACE to Georgia]
A larger vision for healthcare in Georgia
For me, bringing PACE to Georgia has always been about more than introducing another healthcare program. It’s about creating a state where people can grow older with greater confidence, independence, and access to the care they need.
Georgia is a wonderful place to live, work, raise a family, and retire. We have vibrant communities, extraordinary natural beauty, and tremendous opportunities for growth. But if we want people to thrive here throughout their lives, we must also ensure that our healthcare system can support them as their needs change.
That means thinking differently about how care is organized and delivered. It means recognizing that healthcare involves much more than a physician’s appointment or treatment for a particular diagnosis. It also means ensuring that people have access to the services, support, and relationships that help them continue living meaningful lives.
PACE is one important step in that direction, but there is much more work to do.
At Georgia Care Innovators, our commitment is to continue listening to our communities, identifying unmet needs, and working with others to develop solutions. That’s the philosophy that inspired the founding of Hospice Savannah more than 45 years ago, and it’s the same philosophy guiding our work today.
I’m proud of what so many people came together to accomplish in helping bring PACE to Georgia. More than anything, I’m excited about what it can mean for older adults and families who deserve better options for care.
My hope is that Georgia will become known not only as a great place to live and do business, but as one of the best places in the country to grow older and live well.
