Geriatric Medicine Program Aims to Meet Patients Where They Reside & Reduce Hospital Visits January 7, 2025 As people age, their health care needs change. Older people often have more complex medical issues and illnesses, and medications can affect them differently than younger adults. “Samaritan’s Geriatric Medicine program was created to provide the best possible care to older adults,” said Maureen “Paulie” Bruns, MD, program medical director. “The program continues to grow.” Since 2019, Samaritan’s Geriatric Medicine program has served patients in Linn County at facilities like the Oregon Veterans Home, Avamere and Mennonite Village, along with several memory care units and assisted living facilities. In early 2024, the team expanded its reach in the region to provide clinical care for residents of the 135-bed Corvallis Manor. This expansion demonstrates the growing need for more focused care in our aging population. According to the 2020 census, people over age 65 account for at least 17% of the population in Benton County, 20% in Linn County and 30% in Lincoln County. The numbers continue to grow, and more than one-third of this population needs nursing home care. “The Geriatric Medicine clinical team includes a geriatrician, physician and nurse practitioners seeing patients in their home facilities and working closely with facility staff and patients’ families to provide exceptional care,” said Dr. Bruns. “By providing this higher-level service in the facilities, our clinicians can tailor care to each patient’s unique needs.” The Geriatric Medicine program also helps patients avoid unnecessary emergency department and hospital visits by assessing and treating their health care needs in their home facilities when appropriate. “We work closely with primary care clinicians and hospital staff to coordinate patient care,” Dr. Bruns said. Future goals of the Geriatric Medicine program include providing an outpatient memory care clinic, pre-surgery clinic, inpatient consults and falls assessments. Geriatric Medicine also continues to be a rotation for Samaritan’s Graduate Medical Education Family Medicine and Internal Medicine residency programs. “We plan to continue to grow this program to help meet the health care needs of our aging population,” said Dr. Bruns.
