EDITORIAL: Geisinger’s 65 Forward a model for aging population

Aug. 21--It's no secret that health care is a growing industry in our region, as it is in many parts of the United States.

There are many reasons for this, but the nation's aging population is one of the most important demographic realities of our time, and health care will continue to be dramatically impacted.

As the U.S. Census Bureau noted in a report released last year, the agency projects that older adults will edge out children in population size in 2035: People age 65 and over are expected to number 78.0 million, while children under age 18 will number 76.7 million.

"Americans are having fewer children and the baby boom of the 1950s and 1960s has yet to be repeated. Fewer babies, coupled with longer life expectancy equals a country that ages faster," the bureau reported.

By 2060, the report added, nearly one in four Americans will be 65 years and older, the number of 85-plus will triple, and the country will add a half million centenarians.

Juliann Molecavage, Geisinger's associate vice president, told staff writer Bill O'Boyle last week that nearly a quarter of the health care provider's entire patient population is 65 years old or older. And by 2022, Molecavage added, 36 percent of the region's population will be 65 years old or older.

With all of this in mind, Geisinger has debuted in Kingston its new Geisinger 65 Forward Health Center, designed to serve the health care needs those 65 and over all under one roof.

"We know the older you get, the more you need specialized clinical care and support for complex medical conditions," Molecavage told O'Boyle. "Here in northeastern Pennsylvania, the population of those 65 and older is expected to grow 11 percent, or by 22,000 people, over the next five years."

65 Forward enrollees have access to lab services, X-ray services, behavioral health services, community support services, outpatient services and pharmacy home delivery all at one time. Plus, a personal health care advocate to help coordinate appointments, specialist care, hospitals and insurance. The center is also home to health and wellness activities.

The Kingston facility is just the first of 15 that Geisinger will open for those 65 and older over the next two years. An 11,000-square-foot 65 Forward clinic will open in Scranton in October. The remaining 13 will open throughout Geisinger's 10-county service area.

We applaud Geisinger's forward thinking in this regard.

There are many areas in which our society will need to continue adapting to an older population, including housing, accessible infrastructure and transportation. Lessons learned from the health care industry can help influence how other sectors do so.

And that can help our country treat older Americans with the respect and care they deserve.

-- Times Leader

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