10 News Anchor: Medical care for seniors can be difficult during the pandemic due to home isolation and transportation. But as ABC 10 news reporter, Steve Smith explains a much-needed PACE clinic in Encinitas has made life easier for seniors in the North County.
Steve Smith: St. Paul's PACE is a nonprofit that provides medical care for seniors, in home services for seniors and social worker for elderly for low-income seniors living with a chronic condition.
Karen Lapas: Like diabetes, um, maybe they have chronic non-healing wounds. So, any of those patients that have Medicare and MediCal. Yeah.
Steve Smith: But they found there was one major problem.
Karen Lapas: I've had a patient tell me they're from Oceanside. That they were going all the way downtown. When, when you're in your late eighties, that's a long trip.
Steve Smith: Locations downtown, Chula Vista and El Cajon, there was nothing serving seniors in the North County until now they newly opened PACE clinic in Encinitas.
Karen Lapas: What we've seen so far, is there a seniors up here that needed access to our pay services. And we were getting referrals.
Steve Smith: And now with the pandemic they've had to make adjustments, which means they can now provide care for those patients who don't feel comfortable leaving their home.
Karen Lapas: Even with, you know, the pandemic, seniors are now more isolated. So, that's why it's so important to have a PACE program like this, to access those seniors. So, we not only will do home visits, um, van visits. We have our social workers that call the patients regularly to do wellness checks.
Steve Smith: And now with this new North County location, medical care got a lot easier for seniors in need.
Karen Lapas: Senior 55 and above the goal is to keep them out of the hospital.
Steve Smith: In Encinitas, Steve Smith, ABC 10 News.
10 News Anchor: St. Paul's PACE says that they have close to 20 patients at the new Encinitas clinic who are showing major improvements due to better medication management and home care services.