Rising Challenger Takes On Elder-Care System - WSJ.comHOME REMEDYRising Challenger Takes On Elder-Care SystemBy LUCETTE LAGNADOJune 24, 2008;
PRINCETON, N.J. -- In the spring of 2001, Bill Thomas, dressed in his usual sweat shirt and Birkenstock sandals, entered the buttoned-down halls of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. His message: Nursing homes need to be taken out of business. "It's time to turn out the lights," he declared."Green Houses," smaller, home-like environments for seniors, are a growing alternative to larger, more clinical elder-care facilities. And while the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is contributing millions to build more, obstacles remain. (June 24)Cautious but intrigued, foundation executives handed Dr. Thomas a modest $300,000 grant several months later.
Now the country's fourth-largest philanthropy is throwing its considerable weight behind the 48-year-old physician's vision of "Green Houses," an eight-year-old movement to replace large nursing homes with small, homelike facilities for 10 to 12 residents. The foundation is hoping that through its support, Green Houses will soon be erected in all 50 states, up from the 41 Green Houses now in 10 states.
"We want to transform a broken system of care," says Jane Isaacs Lowe, who oversees the foundation's "Vulnerable Populations portfolio." "I don't want to be in a wheelchair in a hallway when I am 85.
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Your comments and feedback are invited!
PRINCETON, N.J. -- In the spring of 2001, Bill Thomas, dressed in his usual sweat shirt and Birkenstock sandals, entered the buttoned-down halls of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. His message: Nursing homes need to be taken out of business. "It's time to turn out the lights," he declared."Green Houses," smaller, home-like environments for seniors, are a growing alternative to larger, more clinical elder-care facilities. And while the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is contributing millions to build more, obstacles remain. (June 24)Cautious but intrigued, foundation executives handed Dr. Thomas a modest $300,000 grant several months later.
Now the country's fourth-largest philanthropy is throwing its considerable weight behind the 48-year-old physician's vision of "Green Houses," an eight-year-old movement to replace large nursing homes with small, homelike facilities for 10 to 12 residents. The foundation is hoping that through its support, Green Houses will soon be erected in all 50 states, up from the 41 Green Houses now in 10 states.
"We want to transform a broken system of care," says Jane Isaacs Lowe, who oversees the foundation's "Vulnerable Populations portfolio." "I don't want to be in a wheelchair in a hallway when I am 85.
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Your comments and feedback are invited!
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