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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSenior Advisory Board - Minutes - 01/10/2001r CITY OF FORT COLLINS SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES: MEETING OF JANUARY 10, 2001 Chairperson — John Roberts, 223-9317 Staff Liaison — Barbara Schoenberger — 224-6026 City Council Liaison — Ray Martinez, Mayor — 221-6506 Chairperson: John Roberts Attendance: George Kress June Tucker Dorothy Miller John Roberts Florence Williams Darren Gunn Erik Margolis Jim Downey Kristin Glenn Eileen Hendee Staff Attending: Barbara Schoenberger (tel. 224-6026) Board Liaison: Mayor Ray Martinez Guests: Laura Burnett Susan Williams Kay Rios Speaker: Marge Bohner 1. Call Meeting to Order: Chairperson John Roberts called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m. 2. Introduction of members and guests. 3. Guest Speaker: Marge Bohner with Poudre Valley Hospital Health District, spoke about services available to all incomes for preventive and screening services. There are many services available which are not available through other organizations. One of the services available is low-income medical and dental care. Children's immunizations are also offered for low-income households. One of Health Districts goal is to help low income people with prescriptions. In order to be eligible for this program, income and assets need to be relatively low. One service that is offered are vouchers which allow you to buy prescriptions at a drug store at a lower rate. Tips on saving money on prescriptions: 1. Brown Bag Preview — take medicines to Dr. and ask if they are still needed. Ask if there is a generic medicine or would an older class of drug work. 2. Get medications at one place. 3. Shop around; bargain with your pharmacist. 4. Look for generic medications. 5. Check price for larger quantity. 6. Ask for samples. 7. Split tablets if possible. Marge handed out a paper called Health District Compass, which has a lot of suggestions on saving money. Health District is funded by property tax, fees collected from rent and sliding scale, fees for services rendered. 4. Citizen Participation — SusanWilliams from Commission of Disability is concerned about Dial -a -Ride. Susan would like the board to write a letter to City Manager John Fishback stating that we need extended hours without jeopardizing the senior ridership. Kay Rios expressed her concern about the letter being written and bringing the issue back to the table. 5. Correspondence: Agenda for Jan 11, 2001 meeting on Office on Aging Advisory Board. 6. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the last meeting were unanimously approved with no additions or corrections. Old Business/Reports: A. Transportation: Kay Rios reported on the open house given by Dial -A -Ride Advisory Board at the Senior Center. Flo - The old train depot undergoing transition into a transit center. Barbara — Because of higher costs we must continue to monitor senior eligibility. B. Housing: Kay- Committee has been put together with architect for sr. housing Project. Affordable Housing Board looking at application fee charged for rental units which are $75 - $125 each. This money is not refundable and is used for credit reports and background checks. C. Outreach: Board will hold special meetings at least one each quarter. Erik will contact Los Ancianos at Northside Center to see about scheduling a meeting. D. Affordable Prescriptions: June will send petitions to leaders of each political party concerning cost of prescriptions and keeping them affordable. E. Annual Report: Annual report due to City Council at end of January. George, June and Erik did a draft of annual report using 2000 work plan. Board offered suggestions. Erik will finalize and send to City Hall. E D. Board reviewed concerns expressed at the last outreach meeting at the Senior Center. 9. Other Business: A. It was decided that all new business should be moved to the beginning of the agenda because so many people leave the meeting early. B. John will be gone until the end of March. George will conduct meetings. 9. Adjournment: The Board adjourned at 4 p.m. 0 Fort Collins Senior Advisory Board 2000 Annual Report OUTREACH • Held special meetings in the community at least quarterly with the express purpose of introducing the board, answering questions and hearing concerns of seniors and groups/organizations with interest in senior issues. Meetings held include: May- Larimer County Long Term Care Resident Council October- Representatives of various senior groups such as: AARP, Senior Center Council, and SOAP Troupe • Were available in the community at various information booths including: September- Bridging the Gap Senior Network Luncheon August- New West Fest ADVOCACY • Continued to support attainable senior housing in the Fort Collins community 1. Invited Karen Girard from Funding Partners to SAB meeting to learn about the Northern Hotel project and give input regarding the needs of seniors. 2. Supported the efforts of the Affordable Housing Board by maintaining a liaison and giving input and writing letters as appropriate. Encouraged the expansion and enhancement of senior transportation by inviting John Daggett to a SAB meeting to learn more about the future of Transfort and Dial -A -Ride and give input as appropriate. The Board has been active in seeking solutions to health care access problems including being very involved in educating seniors on ways to obtain discounted medications. SAB has also created and made available petitions to be signed and sent to federal representatives supporting government efforts to ensure access and affordability to prescription medications for all. SAB has supported senior leisure services by volunteering at Senior Center activities including: Mardi Gras, and Veterans Day celebration and by supporting the Chili Cook -off to support Friends of the Senior Center COMMUNICATION • SAB continues to monitor media information that impacts older adults by reporting recent articles at meetings and submitting articles to the Coloradoan and other media as appropriate • SAB invites guest speakers to monthly meetings including: February- Al Heath, Fort Collins Health Care Center April- Jill Taylor, PVH Aspen Club May- Rusty Collins, Neighbor to Neighbor June- Diana Hutchinson, Larimer County Ombudsman July- Yvonne Myers, Women's Gathering September- Doug Finnman, Fort Collins City Web Site October- Randy McCrillis, Human Rights Resources and Education Offict November- John Daggett, Fort Collins Transportation Planning and Karen Girard, Funding partners SAB monitors the outreach phone line for seniors on City Line by checking messages on a weekly basis and responding as appropriate SAB communicates with city council by writing letters and making phone calls to the board's liaison to City Council COORDINATION • Prepared script, reviewed and critiqued the information provided on the City Line's "Senior Resource Network". • Various board members served as liaisons with senior organizations such as VOA/RSVP, OOA Advisory Board, Foundation on Aging, Senior Center Council, Senior Network Luncheon, Aspen Club, Transportation Board, Red Cross, Senior Attainable Housing Board, SOAP Troupe, etc. • Performed preliminary investigation on the feasibility of reviving the "Paint-A- Thon" program for the Fort Collins community. Contacted various organizations experienced with this program to learn more about such things as its potential costs, how to obtain sponsors, and the overall number of people needed for its successful operation. Letters were sent to some local firms to determine their interest in sponsoring the program. Our board is still determining what role, if any; it might play with such a program. • Contacted the national headquarters of selected pharmaceutical firms to learn more about their respective patient assistance programs for helping low income seniors obtain medications. • Co -hosted the Bridging the Gap Senior Network Luncheon held in Loveland in September. EDUCATION • Various members of the SAB prepared articles dealing with senior issues that were published in Pathways, The Coloradoan and other local publications. • Developed an outline of the key information to be included in the board's outreach presentations. • Contacted 15 local pharmacies to obtain information about the prices they were charging for five prescription drugs commonly used by seniors. They were also asked about the discounts they make available to seniors. This information was distributed to other senior agencies • Co -sponsored a booth at the New West Fest with the Foundation On Aging, the Office on Aging and the Women's Gathering. Board members manned the booth for two days using a "Gong Show" format in which passersby answered questions aimed to dispel myths on aging in our community. • Responded to the report prepared by the Commission on the Status of Women. Our response criticized the report's limited coverage devoted to issues involving senior women. • Corresponded with selected city agencies requesting that they seek input from seniors on all future issues that could affect seniors. 0 . QUALITY OF LIFE Monitored the Elder Pet Care program provider to ensure the program meets the needs of seniors in the community. The SAB has continued to work closely with private and city services to ensure our city is safe for seniors. Several of our Board members act as liaisons to other boards. We also have liaisons from other boards sit in on our meetings. We listen to and comment on issues such as transportation and housing. The SAB investigated the feasibility of establishing a "Paint -A -Thou" for seniors in need. A Paint-A-Thon would provide volunteers to scrape and paint the homes of senior citizens who cannot do the job themselves or who cannot afford to have a commercial company complete the work. Contact was made with BRI in Denver to discuss what the process is for a Paint-A-Thon. They sent information and that info was shared with the SAB. There is a real need here in Fort Collins for such an event. However, there are many obstacles that prohibit the SAB to take on a project like this themselves. It was decided that the Board would contact corporate sponsors to inquire if they would be willing to participate in an event such as the Paint-A-Thon. The Foundation On Aging indicated a willingness to help provide supplies, however they to felt that a corporate sponsor was needed. After many letters were sent to potential corporate sponsors and follow up phone calls were made, there appeared to be no interest at this time for such an event. The SAB made a decision to address this issue next year. Hopefully with new business moving into the area one will agree to be the corporate sponsor and can provide the financial backing, etc. • The SAB investigated the need and possibility of a discounted pharmacy program for seniors in need. This project began with a general survey of all 15 pharmacies in the Fort Collins area. We inquired as to whether or not they provided discounts for seniors. Of the 15 pharmacies only three provided any kind of discount. When asked if they would be interested in offering a special discount to seniors they all said no. Another survey was done, this time inquiring about prices for specific medications. The prices varied from pharmacy to pharmacy. In one case as much as $23.90. Based on this information it became clear that seniors have to shop around and barter to get the best price for their medication. June Tucker met with Congressman Bob Schaffer to discuss the outcome of the surveys and to inquire about any bills that Congress may be reviewing this issue. One of our members wrote an article to be published in the Coloradoan. John Pfeiffenberger from the Senior Center wrote an article in Pathways advising seniors of the survey and the need to shop around. June Tucker was interviewed by the Coloradoan regarding the same. At the New West Fest the SAB had a petition for signatures of those supporting affordable prescriptions for seniors. We obtained over 200 signatures. The petition was then placed at the Senior Center for additional signatures. This petition will be sent to the Congressional Leaders of both parties after the new administration is in place.