KINGSTON – Ulster County is launching
a souped-up Meals-on-Wheels program for local seniors, which promises
to be the best of its kind in New York State. The initiative adds an extra
helping of services to the home delivery of hot food. County Executive
Michael Hein announced on Thursday a $2 million contract with Gateway
Industries, a local non-profit, spanning 18 months, to provide Meals-on-Wheels
services with extra case work and screening.
“This contract provides more than what was done in the past, but
working with nutritionists, the quality of food, the choices available
to seniors, are all going to be enhanced,” Hein explained.
From left, McMullen, Hein, Gateway
CEO Mohsen Badran, and Helen Edelstein, Gateway vice president
Traditional Meals-on-Wheels programs simply bring hot food to a senior’s
front door. Hein’s plan brings a worker inside the house to check
on the elderly, noting any changes in hygiene, pantry supplies, general
health and demeanor, looking out for signs of dementia and dehydration,
for example.
Included in the Gateway contract are hospital escorts and discharge treatment
plan follow-ups.
“We’re very excited about the additional training for delivery
personnel, to make sure that our seniors get the best possible care, because
they deserve it. This is their community; they have been the pillars that
we all go to for wisdom. Not only do we owe it to them, it’s simply
the right thing to do,” Hein said. “It’s going to become
a model statewide,” he added.
“This is a meals program on steroids,” agreed Kelly McMullen,
director of the Ulster Office for the Aging. “The seniors were given
an ultimatum by a for-profit company; ‘take it or leave it, weekly
delivery’,” McMullen said, referring to Prestige Services,
the current provider.
“Mike Hein said ‘this is so much less than what our seniors
deserve,’” McMullen continued. “What we need is a local provider
who understands the human part of this system,” she said. “This
program is about having a local human services agency who cares about
the local community, getting through that door and having an engaged relationship
with seniors.” No one else in the state is doing this,” she
McMullen said.
The program currently serves 300 seniors, but will now have a capacity
for 400, thanks to a $100,000 budget boost from county funds. McMullen
said the extra service add-on only amounts to 4-cents extra per plate
in costs.
The project’s expected launch date is in June. The waiting list
has also been eliminated.
