Northeast Older Adult Center

I am writing to you today in anonymity. If you release my name, I will suffer consequences. Philadelphia Corporation for Aging Wallace Building 642 N. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19130-3049 I am writing to express my concern about the practices and policies at Assured Care Center, a senior center at 7248 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, 19135. Assured Care Center's clientele is 100 percent Asian and the majority of clients speak very little or no English whatsoever. However, there is no language program at the center. The director, the owner, and the nurse do not speak Chinese. Rosemary Kitchen, the Director, is responsible for medical intakes and she conducts the screening in English. Sometimes, but not always, she will seek the help of one of the owner’s relatives, none of whom is bilingual. Sometimes she uses no one for language assistance because there is no one around to help. The absence of a language support program at Assured Care Center is deeply concerning. If clients can't communicate with the staff, how can they communicate their needs? However, the most troubling practice is the potential for miscommunication of a client’s medical needs. I urge you to investigate this new center. Ideally, you have a Chinese evaluator available to screen the owner’s relatives’ language proficiency. It would be easy to feign literacy or conceal communication skills. ANONYMOUS

I have not visited the Northeast Older Adult Center. My only contact was over the phone. The one who answered sounded like a younger female with a Spanish accent. When I asked my question about Medicare she immediately snapped back that it was not enrollment time. I said I understood but had a few questions I needed answered. Again, she snapped not the right time and added that I have to wait until October or November. Why does she have a snappy voice and attitude? I was going to go there but decided to go to a different center, wondering how the seniors were being treated. I know it's only a first phone call contact but as they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression.