LECOM and LifeWorks to collaborate on programs and services for older adults
The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) Institute for Successful Aging has added a new educational dimension for older adults by incorporating LifeWorks Erie into the LECOM family of health and education services. The vision of the Institute for Successful Aging centers upon innovative programs that are designed to add life to one’s years, rather than simply to add years to one’s life.
“The LECOM Institute for Successful Aging will work collaboratively with LifeWorks to maintain the highest quality of life-long learning for seniors,” said James Lin, DO, Director of the LECOM Institute for Successful Aging and Vice President of Senior Services and Adult Living at Millcreek Community Hospital. “As a recognized leader in geriatric care, the LECOM Senior Living Center, in cooperation with LifeWorks Erie and its outreach efforts, will ensure that our older adults are leading more active, engaged, and healthy lives.”
Rochelle Krowinski (left) of LifeWorks and James Lin, DO, of LECOM discussed with members of the local media the new partnership between the organizations.
The new partnership was announced at a news conference attended by officials from LECOM and LifeWorks Erie, a provider of relevant and contemporary programs, services, and lifelong learning opportunities for individuals age 50 and older. Rochelle Krowinski, LifeWorks’ CEO, said the organizations share a common goal of working with adults who wish to remain active, both mentally and physically, while lead healthy and vibrant lifestyles.
“Our Board of Directors concluded that finding a strategic partner who shared our mission and vision was essential to our long-term success,” Krowinski said. “We are excited to have found the ideal partner in LECOM and its Institute for Successful Aging. With the support of the Institute, we will be expanding and enhancing our programs and services to better serve our current and future members. Through this partnership, the possibilities are endless.”
The LECOM Institute for Successful Aging, through its geriatric specialists, offers primary care and consultative clinical services that work with primary care physicians. With the Institutes support, LifeWorks Erie will expand and enhance its programs and services to reach a broader group of people and it will work with them to help them remain healthy and live longer, more productive lives. The alliance will expand the continuum of care offered by the Institute, beginning by addressing the needs of very active adults and extending detailed attention to those elderly individuals who require enhanced geriatric medical care.
By integrating LifeWorks Erie into the Institute for Successful Aging, more diverse health care services will reach more citizens throughout the Erie region.
Geriatric specialists work with family physicians, patients, and families to encourage independence and to share decision-making as they outline the appropriate plan of care. Wholly within the same health care campus, the Institute team can diagnosis and treat an acute illness, perform surgery, provide transitional care after surgery, and facilitate short term and long term rehabilitation.
LifeWorks Erie, formerly the Erie Center on Health and Aging (ECHA) serves as a convenient, central point of service for meals, education, recreation, socialization, and self-enrichment programs. LifeWorks Erie offers lifelong learning classes, socialization, and recreational opportunities, fitness classes, broad-based medical screenings, health and prevention education, and an annual flu vaccination campaign.
Because a life filled with the richness of health is a life well-lived, LECOM is committed to advancing and to enhancing social and educational programs for active seniors. Where there is health, there is life. LECOM is dedicated to the fullest enrichment of both.