By Nyesha Stone
(Photo by Sherrice Gilcreast)
Community Care Inc. (CCI) reached its 40-year anniversary. CCI is a non-profit managed care organization that serves 14 counties in Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Waupaca, Washington, Walworth, Calumet, Outagamie, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc and Winnebago.
CEO of CCI Kenneth Munson believes if it wasn’t for the work of CCI senior citizens would be in nursing homes instead of living independently. Munson and his team help senior citizens live a healthy life on their own, for as long as they can, in the community.
Munson’s been in charge for a few years and he’s admitted this position expanded his outlook on life.
“I have a deeper understanding of the problems in the community,” said Munson.
By working closely with senior citizens, he’s realized as a society we don’t know or understand people’s everyday struggles. It’s CCI’s job to break that barrier to help people live a better life while they can.
CCI offers three Long Term Care (LTC) programs: PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), Family Care Partnership and Family Care.
(Photo by Sherrice Gilcreast)
PACE has been around since CCI’s opening, but its only offered in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. This program is a benefits package offered to individuals 55 and older that are fragile and disabled. Included in this package are medical care, long term care and prescription drugs.
Family Care Partnership is offered in Calumet, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, Waupaca, and Waukesha and it’s like PACE, but this program is offered to any frail elders and adults with physical intellectual or developmental disabilities. The partnership is a Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plan for people who have Medicaid and are eligible for Medicare.
Family Care is offered to all 14 counties and is a Medicaid managed care program that provides resources to meet the long term needs of taking care of an elder or adult with disabilities that’s Medicaid eligible.
The CCI building located in Milwaukee at 3220 W. Vliet St. provides its members (senior citizens) with a day center that’s open Mon-Fri from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
CCI Staff Administrator Officer Sherrice Gilcreast calls the day center the one-stop-shop because it has a dentist office, a doctor’s office, an area for members to gather, food and other resources its members need and can enjoy. The day center also has rooms for its members to bathe and shower.
“We really help people that in many cases are the sickest, the poorest,” said Gilcreast. “We’re dedicated to keeping people in the community.”
According to Debra Gordon, the CCI day center supervisor, people tend to live longer if they stay in their own home instead of a nursing home or living center.
CCI has a contract with the state of Wisconsin to manage the care of people on Medicare and Medicaid, and by reaching their 40th anniversary, CCI is happy with their impact on the community.