Fall 2021

Volunteer Sue Lehmann helps with a puzzle

In late July, the light-filled Agrace Adult Day Center in Madison opened to area seniors needing daytime companionship and care.

As clients enroll at the Center, they have a functional assessment to help our staff understand their needs. Agrace’s CNA dementia specialist also takes time to learn about their interests so what they like can be woven into their daily activities.

The Center’s nurse manager, Kewana Jamison, says movies and games were popular with clients in the first weeks, as they enjoyed bingo, memory card matching, bean bag toss, singing and entertainment trivia. She adds, “One client even taught us how to play gin rummy!”

More than one family emailed Kewana in the Center’s first week to say their loved one enjoyed their time at the Center so much that they asked to come back before their next scheduled day.

Openings Available Now

The Adult Day Center has openings for new clients. If you know a senior who could benefit from coming to the Center, please spread the word. They can contact us at (608) 327-7303 or by clicking the link below.

Lynne Sexten, President &. CEO

The volunteers who founded Agrace in a church basement in 1978 may never have imagined their new organization would someday grow to serve people far beyond Dane County. Yet our service area has expanded steadily over the past decade, into isolated, rural communities that have very little access to hospice and supportive care.

Our latest expansion, however, is to a different kind of place—the densely populated western Milwaukee suburbs of Waukesha County. That’s where Agrace will begin to offer hospice and supportive care in January 2022.

It’s about sustainability. Nearly 90 percent of Agrace’s revenue comes from serving patients who are covered by Medicare. However, a Medicare alternative called “Medicare Advantage” (MA) plans are becoming popular with seniors in Wisconsin.

While it’s not the case now, MA plans will soon begin to include hospice care as a benefit. In order for us to provide care to patients covered by MA plans, we must have contracts in place with these plans. We understand these plans are more likely to contract with Agrace if we can serve the most populated areas of the state.

We believe serving Waukesha County will help Medicare Advantage plans see Agrace as an option to care for their members all across our southern Wisconsin service area. It’s a move to improve our long-term sustainability—to ensure we are able to fulfill our mission for generations to come.

Look for more news about our Waukesha County expansion in the next issue of this newsletter.

President & CEO

The Agrace Future Nurses Scholarship Program offers an opportunity for any Agrace certified nursing assistant (CNA) or licensed practical nurse (LPN) to receive a scholarship to pursue a nursing degree. From this year’s many highly qualified applicants, we have named seven recipients, who are pictured here:

These scholarship winners are dedicated to quality patient care. They often go beyond their regular duties to create memorable moments with our patients and families. As we invest in their future, we wish these talented staff success as they pursue becoming nurses!