Masonicare, Hebrew Senior Care Create State's First-Ever Senior-Based Hospital Alliance

Masonicare, Hebrew Senior Care Create State's First-Ever Senior-Based Hospital Alliance

​February 21, 2018 . . . Masonicare Health Center of Wallingford and Hebrew Senior Care of West Hartford today announced their agreement to collaborate on the development of the state's first in-patient acute care hospital alliance for seniors. The Connecticut Senior Hospital Alliance (CSHA) brings Connecticut an innovative new option for seniors who need hospital-level care without having to endure long emergency room waiting times, according to Jon-Paul Venoit, CEO of Masonicare and Gary Jones, CEO of Hebrew Senior Care.

The two boutique, stand-alone hospitals – one on Masonicare's campus in Wallingford and one on Hebrew Senior Care's campus in West Hartford –provide a unique setting for care that is designed especially for seniors and focuses on the diagnoses most commonly seen in the senior population. "Caring for the needs of seniors requires specialized care. When children need acute care services, parents select a children's hospital. It is with the same premise in mind that we have created senior care hospitals, to care for the specific and individualized needs of seniors," said Venoit.

By bringing together Masonicare and Hebrew Senior Care – two of Connecticut's most longstanding and respected names in non-profit senior care – CSHA creates a top-level hospital system equipped with the expertise needed to address the highly complex field of senior hospital care.

While both Masonicare Health Center and Hebrew Senior Care will continue to operate as individual entities, the alliance allows them to create a population health pathway that gives seniors immediate access to the care they need, in an environment that is acutely attuned to their medical needs, Jones and Venoit said. 

"As the two leading senior care providers in Connecticut, it made sense for Hebrew Senior Care and Masonicare to join forces and collaborate to create care pathways to improve the patient experience and outcome," Jones said. "Sharing data, resources and manpower allows us to create a more innovative, efficient approach. This collaboration between two-non-profit, mission-based organizations will result in the highest quality senior care delivered at a much lower cost, and in a manner that is much more comfortable for seniors."

"Often times for seniors, emergency rooms are the go-to option for non-emergency situations with worsening symptoms, and emergency room visits are both highly costly and usually result in much longer waiting times as emergency room teams work to triage care appropriately.  In addition, long stays in emergency rooms can be disorienting for seniors.  The CSHA provides a time-saving, significantly less costly alternative for direct admission when treating common conditions such as congestive heart failure, pneumonia, COPD and pulmonary conditions, chronic pain, dehydration, urinary tract infections and delirium," said Ann Collette, Vice President of Strategy for Masonicare. "By allowing direct admission to a room and bypassing emergency departments, CSHA allows for faster access to treatment in a more comfortable environment, and also creates a lower cost alternative for managed care companies, ACOs and other providers.

Masonicare's Acute Senior Hospital Unit in Wallingford offers a newly renovated, fully- equipped 30 bed acute care unit while the Hospital at Hebrew Senior Care offers a similar setting of 23 acute care beds in West Hartford.  

For more information on Masonicare's Acute Senior Hospital Unit, the Hospital at Hebrew Senior Care or the Connecticut Senior Hospital Alliance, visit them on the web at www.ctseniorhospital.org.