SPA Executive Director appointed to MedPAC
Gina Upchurch, the founding executive director of Senior PharmAssist, has been appointed to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), an independent congressional agency that advises the U.S. Congress on issues affecting Medicare. The bipartisan commission consists of 17 members with diverse experience and expertise about financing and delivering health care services.

“It’s an honor to be named to the MedPAC and to represent Senior PharmAssist and the Durham community in Washington, D.C,” Upchurch says. “I’m proud to share what we’ve learned from 29 years of working with older adults and our talented staff and volunteers. My experience of hearing about medication concerns – access and the appropriate use of medications, as well as how we can improve health insurance literacy for Medicare beneficiaries so they can make informed choices, has prepared me for this work and will keep me focused on real-world issues. As many healthcare institutions begin to better address basic social needs that affect health – like food security, housing and transportation – the work at Senior PharmAssist is a great teacher as we have integrated medical with social care for years. I’m also excited about what I will learn and how it will improve Senior PharmAssist and policies here in North Carolina.”

Gina will remain the full-time Executive Director of Senior PharmAssist. The MedPAC will take her to Washington, D.C. for approximately two days a month to participate in public meetings about policy issues and recommendations to Congress. Visit our website to read the full press release.
SHIIP Volunteers Win the Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service!
Patricia, Henry, Collette, Lisa, and Katrina accepted the Governor's Award on behalf of all of our SHIIP volunteers
We were so proud and excited to celebrate with our SHIIP volunteers (SHIIP stands for the NC Department of Insurance Seniors' Health Insurance Information Program) when they were honored with the Governor's Award for Volunteer Service! Volunteer and staff representatives enjoyed a beautiful luncheon hosted by the Triangle Nonprofit and Volunteer Leadership Center. They had a great time appreciating all the incredible volunteers recognized for their service to nonprofits across the Triangle. We already knew our Senior PharmAssist volunteers were fantastic, and it was fun to see them recognized for all they do to help Medicare beneficiaries in Durham! Thank you to ALL of our volunteers, including our awarding winning SHIIP counselors: Peter Adland, Shelley Beason, Betty Jean "BJ" Boyarsky, Collette Driscoll, Bruce Hays, Henry Luftman, Lisa Nadler, Roslyn Muse, and Debra Taylor.
Remembering the Hesters
Mr. Hester spoke at one of our first Senior PharmAssist breakfasts. He was a hit!
Donald and Betty Hester
Our long-time participant and friend, Donald Hester, passed away in May just three months shy of his 94th birthday. We didn’t want the moment to pass without recognizing this very special member of our SPA family. Mr. Hester and his wife, Betty, were both Senior PharmAssist participants for many years. When Betty was in a nursing home, Donald would visit to bring her meals and collect her laundry. He did this every day until she passed away. After Betty died, Donald continued to live on his own. His son told us that he believes the services he received at Senior PharmAssist allowed his dad to live independently in his home. Mr. Hester served as a valuable member of our Participant Advisory Council, helping to guide and inform our work. We’re proud to have been a part of the Hesters’ lives and to hear some of his hilarious jokes! Their joy and kindness were contagious. 
Volunteer Highlights
Meet Three SPA Superstars: David, Penny, and Al
While Senior PharmAssist is a relatively small nonprofit, we are quite high-tech in how we manage the information we gather from our participants. Using technology well makes us more effective in serving our participants. It also ensures we can easily report our outcomes to stakeholders in a secure and reliable fashion. Several amazing and dedicated Information Technology experts have volunteered through the years to make it happen!
 
First and foremost, David Farrell with People Designs built our database from scratch. Our work is so unique, there was no "off the shelf" option. David customized a system just for us! Then, two years ago, he worked with our staff to redesign the database to better match our expanding workflow and reporting needs. David continues to keep our work running smoothly! 
 
Dr. Al Stone began at Senior PharmAssist as a SHIIP Medicare volunteer, and we quickly learned of his amazing career leading the design of electronic health records (literally writing programming language that is still used today). He helped us convert our paper charts into our homegrown database, and then generated reports to help us track our data and outcomes for many years. When Al let us know he would need to cut back a bit, we began putting out feelers for other programmers.
 
Lucky for us, Penny Parsons reached out at the exact right time as she was retiring from a successful career in public sector database interoperability. She took it upon herself to learn how to program the reports we need so we are accurate and efficient with built-in quality control methods. What a gift. 
 
We believe that our engagement with older adults makes a difference in their lives. Thanks to the efforts of so many, we have data to demonstrate reductions in hospitalizations and Emergency Department use, improved perceived health, and more. We are so thankful to have such stellar technical support through the years from Penny, Al, and David!
MEDICARE BASICS
One hour virtual webinars followed by Q&A

If you are new to Medicare, approaching your 65th birthday, or just want to learn more about how Medicare works, please join us for this free webinar. You will learn about the basics of Medicare and get your questions answered by our experts! Find more dates on our website.

> Email us to register.