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Anna Fan felt miserable after retirement.
“All my life was work… for 60 years,” she said. Her health and mobility began to decline.
Personal events prompted Anna to move from Taiwan to the United States. Language barriers and being in a new country led to her feeling extremely isolated.
Anna isn’t alone. The National Poll on Healthy Aging reported that in 2024, one in three older adults aged 50 to 80 feel lonely some of the time or often in the past year.
But today, Anna is thriving with help from ICHS PACE, or Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. A nationally-recognized model of care, PACE allows seniors to remain active, connected, and at home in their communities.
PACE participant Anna Fan shares a laugh with physical therapy assistant Matthew Pirkle after a stretching class, April 23, 2025.
Anna benefits from a team of interdisciplinary eldercare experts—doctors, occupational, recreational and physical therapists, nutritionists, behavioral health specialists, and others—that provides culturally-competent health services and transportation to and from her home. More importantly, she has found a vibrant multilingual community where she feels seen, heard, and loved while remaining independent.
“I feel so good,” Anna exclaimed. “I feel lighter. My emotions are not down all the time.”
“Elders, especially from immigrant and refugee communities, have great difficulty navigating our health care system,” said Dr. Mandeep Walia, ICHS PACE medical director. “They have difficulty with making appointments, transportation to appointments, understanding what the appointment is for, managing their medications, and coordinating specialist care.”
“This is where PACE steps in,” Dr. Walia continued. “We manage all these complexities by providing wraparound services and care coordination so that our participants can focus on their health and wellbeing.”
ICHS is expanding the capacity of PACE from 100 to 400 participants in a new 24,000-square-foot senior center and clinic on Beacon Hill. The Ron Chew Healthy Aging & Wellness Center is slated to open in late 2025.
Anna and her fellow PACE participants are excited.
“I tell my daughter, ‘Don’t worry. I’m in good hands.’”
Watch “Navigating isolation: The silent struggles of caring for immigrant elders in the US.” This KING 5 news story features ICHS PACE participant Ha Ly and her son Sam as they share the challenges of aging and caretaking.
To learn more about ICHS PACE, please call an enrollment specialist at 206.531.2194 (TTY 711) or email enrollpace@ichs.com.
How the program ensures consistent culturally-sensitive care for a growing number of participants, especially with the expansion to 400? How does ICHS maintain quality and personal attention as the community grows?