West Baltimore PACE Center to be Located at the TouchPoint Empowerment Center at Former Mondawmin Target Store
BALTIMORE (July 11, 2022) –To serve the older adults of West Baltimore, PACE organizers have selected the TouchPoint Empowerment Center at the former Mondawmin Mall Target store as the site for their new center expected to open in 2023. It will be part of a new community hub announced in March aimed at revitalizing Mondawmin Mall and the historic West Baltimore neighborhood.
Providing integrated clinical and non-clinical services at a lower cost than nursing facilities, the federal Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE®) provides community-based care to frail individuals who qualify for nursing facility placement. Earlier this year, a coalition of healthcare and aging service advocates, leaders and community organizations was selected by the Maryland Department of Health to proceed to the next step in bringing the first PACE program to West Baltimore.
“We are delighted to announce that the West Baltimore PACE Community Coalition, LLC is joining with the other organizations reinvesting in Mondawmin to create a hub for programs, services, and businesses,” said Aileen McShea Tinney, president and CEO of Keswick. “Part of building a successful PACE program is making sure that it fits into the local community, and the former Target store is an ideal location.”
Tinney worked alongside Bill McCarthy, executive director of Catholic Charities, in forming the West Baltimore PACE Community Coalition with Edenbridge Health, a PACE provider dedicated to partnering with local organizations to support older adults in living meaningful lives in their own communities.
The Mondawmin location is readily accessible for residents of the service area; it is at the crossroads of major public transportation lines; and it has a one-story footprint and the space configuration necessary for a well-designed PACE Center.
In March of this year, The Greater Mondawmin Coordinating Council announced that Whiting-Turner CEO Tim Regan purchased the former Mondawmin Mall Target store and surrounding property with the goal of working with the community to revitalize the historic West Baltimore neighborhood. As part of this effort, in 2016, Regan and Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Exelon Calvin Butler co-founded the non-profit TouchPoint Baltimore, a unique collaboration space that was developed and funded exclusively by Whiting-Turner and BGE and became home to non-profit organizations – Thread and Baltimore Corps. The Center for Urban Families, with its headquarters nearby, is also a key partner in TouchPoint. Once the former Target Store space is ready, these organizations will move to the new space at TouchPoint Empowerment Center along with other non-profit and for-profit organizations including Whiting-Turner who will establish a mid-town office there.
“There has been so much interest by organizations to lease space at TouchPoint Empowerment Center. West Baltimore Pace Community Coalition is the perfect partner in our effort to revitalize this community. They serve an important population – vulnerable seniors,” said Regan. “We look forward to working with them, as a vital partner, as we move this project forward,” he added.
“We are so excited that plans are coming to fruition, and it promises to be a valuable community hub that will truly benefit the residents of West Baltimore,” said Adeline Hutchinson, president of the Greater Mondawmin Coordinating Council. “This is only the beginning!”
As a next step in the application process, West Baltimore PACE Community Coalition, LLC is working with the Maryland Department of Health (MDH). An application will be submitted to CMS, the federal government agency that controls PACE, by September 30. The West Baltimore PACE Center is expected to open by the end of 2023.
About PACE
The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE®) is a comprehensive, fully integrated, provider-based health plan for the frailest and costliest members of our society – those who require a nursing home level of care. The PACE philosophy is centered on the belief that it is better for frail individuals and their families to be served in the community whenever possible. Although all PACE participants are eligible for nursing home care, 95 percent continue to live at home.
