(Washington, DC)—The District of Columbia Department of Health Medical Assistance Administration, Office on Disabilities and Aging in partnership with the Department of Human Services, Income Maintenance Administration will open the doors to its brand new Resource Center for the elderly and persons with disabilities on January 27, 2005 at 11 am. The center is located at 2311 Martin Luther King Avenue, SE, Washington, DC.

The Resource Center is designed to improve the District’s Medicaid system for long-term care for the elderly and persons with disabilities.  Services will include medical and social assessments, Medicare/Medicaid eligibility and benefits; long-term care counseling and linkage, short-term care stabilization and referrals to community resources.

“The Department of Health is very excited about the opening of the Resource Center,” said Dr. Gregg A. Pane, Director of the Department of Health. “The Resource Center is expected to save the District money by referring individuals to home and community-based services who would otherwise be served in more costly institutional-based settings.”

The mission of the Resource Center is to assist the District’s elderly and persons with disabilities and their families in maximizing their independence and improving their quality of life by linking people with a range of quality services.  Most Medicaid long-term care funds are spent on nursing home care even though many clients would prefer to live in a less restrictive, non-institutional environment.

“The support the Resource Center has received thus far has been excellent,” said Robert T. Maruca, Senior Deputy Director of the Department of Health Medical Assistance Administration. “The center exists not only to provide assistance and information on services for the elderly and persons with disabilities, but to educate them about their current situation and help them explore a range of options available to them.”

To RSVP or for more information about the opening of the Resource Center, please contact the Department of Health at (202) 671-5000.