About Us
Project Team - email the team
Sandy Atkins, MPA, Project Director/VP Institute for Change, Partners in Care Foundation
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Sandy Atkins has 25 years of experience planning and providing services to older adults. Prior to joining Partners in Care's evidence-based practice team, Sandy served as executive director of Hospice in Pasadena. At the USC Andrus Gerontology Center, she directed the Center for Long Term Care Integration, a state-funded effort to analyze Medicare and Medi-Cal data and provide technical assistance to counties pursuing the integration of their health and long term care systems for the dually eligible aged, blind and disabled population. Sandy also directed the STARS Minnesota Rural Elder Services Community Initiative, cosponsored by the University of Minnesota and Ebenezer Social Ministries. Before that, she was administrator of several California continuing care retirement communities. Sandy has an MPA in Long Term Care Administration, with a Certificate in Gerontology, from the University of Arizona, and a BA in Spanish from SUNY Buffalo.
Dennee Frey, PharmD, Project Consultant.
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Dennee Frey is Project Consultant (and former Project Director) for the Medication Management Information System (MMIS) program at Partners In Care Foundation, assisting with regional and national implementation and dissemination. Dennee has over 25 years of senior care experience in home care and long-term care, working extensively with interdisciplinary home health and care management teams. As Project Director at Partners and VNA-LA, she implemented several national projects in geriatric medication management and HIV/AIDs. She is the author/co-author of over 20 publications, and has presented at numerous national, state and local professional pharmacy, and aging association meetings on improving medication management. Dennee received her Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and completed a Psychopharmacy residency at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, where she held an adjunct faculty appointment for 15 years.
Elaine Der, PharmD, Consultant Pharmacist
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Dr. Der is a clinical and consultant pharmacist with Partners in Care Foundation, applying pharmacy practice research into community practice through its Medications Management Project. She continues to work other arenas of pharmacy, including clinic, hospital, and retail. She is actively involved with community education programs concerning older adults and pharmaceuticals. She received her Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Southern California in 1994, after which she completed a Geriatric Pharmacy Practice Residency. She then completed a fellowship in Geriatric Pharmacotherapy at USC and the John Douglas French Center for Alzheimer's Disease.
W. June Simmons, President/CEO Partners in Care Foundation
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June Simmons, MSW, LCSW is nationally recognized for her leadership in the administration of health care organizations and her role in developing innovative approaches to health care delivery. As President/CEO of the non-profit Partners In Care Foundation, she takes an active role in developing initiatives and pro-active programs which meet the mutual needs of patient populations and health care delivery networks to encourage cost-effective, patient-friendly integration of care from hospital to home. June is a recent winner of the Purpose Prize and serves on major national and local committees, panels and technical advisory boards including: California Healthcare Foundation - Managed Care and the Elderly, The John A. Hartford Foundation, Kaiser Permanente of Southern California, The Robert Wood Johnson HMO Care Management Workgroup, American Society on Aging National Board, Board of Councilors/Social Work and Alumni Board of Governors/USC.
Project Collaborators
- LA City Department on Aging, an Area Agency on Aging (AAA)
- LA County AAA
- University of Southern California, Schools of Pharmacy and Gerontology
- The MultiPurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP) in California
- Huntington Hospital, Pasadena, CA.
- Senior Care Action Network (SCAN) Independence at Home
- AltaMed Health Services Corporation
Advisory Panel
- Norman Chien, MD, Medical Director of Huntington Hospital Geriatric Assessment Program
- Alison Moore, MD, University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
- Bradley Williams, PharmD, University of Southern California School of Pharmacy
- Marsha Meyer, PharmD, CGP, FASCP, Consultant Pharmacist
- Steve Chen, PharmD, USC School of Pharmacy
Lead Agency
Partners in Care Foundation assists health care providers and community-based organizations to create, implement, and evaluate new ways of delivering care. Partners serves as a catalyst to help shape a new version of care by partnering with organizations, families, and community leaders. Partners will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the project including coordinating outreach, scheduling, planning and delivery of services, data tracking, training oversight of students, and financial management.
Funders
Administration on Aging (AoA)
The Administration on Aging (AoA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the Federal focal point and advocate agency for older persons and their concerns. AoA awarded grants totaling over $2 million to 12 federal agencies and private foundations as part of a public/private partnership to increase access for older people to programs that have been proven to be effective in reducing the risk of disease, injury, and disability. Partners in Care Foundation is one of the twelve grantees and the only medication management program to receive funding. This funding will be used to implement an evidence-based Medications Management Model in community based care management services.
John A. Hartford Foundation
Founded in 1929, the John A. Hartford Foundation is a committed champion of training, research and service system innovations that promote the health and independence of America’s older adults. Through its grantmaking, the Foundation seeks to strengthen the nation’s capacity to provide effective, affordable care to this rapidly increasing older population by educating “aging-prepared” health professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers), and developing innovations that improve and better integrate health and supportive services. The Foundation was established by John A. Hartford. Mr. Hartford and his brother, George L. Hartford, both former chief executives of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, left the bulk of their estates to the Foundation upon their deaths in the 1950s. Additional information about the Foundation and it programs is available at www.jhartfound.org.