Geisinger Opens First 65-Forward Senior Care Facility in Centre Region, The Eighth Overall

Geisinger Health System opened seven 65-Forward senior care centers over the course of the last two years. This week, they opened their eighth such facility, and the first in our viewing area.

The $2.6 million State College facility gathers doctors with multiple specialties in senior careand puts them all under one roof.

With the hefty two-plus million-dollar price tag, Geisinger went all-in to give patients the best experience possible.

“We want them to have the vip service that they deserve, and it’s a one-stop-shop, and it’s not just for their health; its the whole holistic approach to, better, better care, a better lifestyle," said Devin Rhoads, an Operations Manager for Geisinger 65-Forward.

And if you’re wondering what that $2.6 million provides...

“So we have, in this building, we have radiology, we do labs, we have a pharmacist that’s going to be here, we have a case manager, a social worker, a dietitian and an activities director, so there’s going to be a gym in here," said Dr. Scott Sulman, a physician at the new clinic. "So we’re not just focusing ondoing office visits.”

Rhoads says that a driving factor behind the creation of these clinics is to avoid urgent cares and ER’s.

“Doing these clinics, we don’t want people to go to the emergency room, we don’t want them to have to go to urgent care, we don’t want them to...to be hospitalized," he said. "We want them to come to us, we want to keep them healthy so that they don’t go into the facilities, where they may not get the care.”

And giving that high level of care and attention is precisely what Dr. Sulman loves about this place.

“(We) spend more time with our patients, our initial visits are 16 minutes, and then most of the other follow-up visits are 40...40 minute-visits, where in a busy primary care practice, you don’t have that much time," he said. "The idea is that we’re trying to get to know the patients much better.”

Rhoads added that 65-Forward centers have an average patient satisfaction rate of 98%.

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