Kim Brooks Named Innovator in Healthcare by Boston Business Journal

The Boston Business Journal has named Kim Brooks one of its Innovators in Healthcare in the nonprofit sector for developing Hebrew SeniorLife’s pioneering program that integrates senior housing and care.

Brooks, executive vice president of senior living, oversees operations of the nonprofit’s seven senior living communities and the development of new sites. She has also led the creation and expansion of the  Right Care, Right Place, Right Time initiative.

The Boston Business Journal chose 14 honorees for its second annual Innovators in Healthcare program. This year’s honorees were selected in six categories and will be celebrated at a Boston event in February.

Hebrew SeniorLife developed the Right Care, Right Place, Right Time Initiative, also known as R3, to support residents in proactively managing their health by effectively linking housing and health care. Its goal is to improve lives, reduce costs, and help older adults stay independent and at home longer. 

The R3 model includes a wellness nurse and wellness coordinator working on-site with the existing housing team to provide supportive services to residents, with a focus on improving health outcomes and quality of life.

R3 staff regularly engage with individual residents concerning their health and wellness. Through these conversations, they work to understand the barriers residents might face in remaining healthy, then follow up to address needs and connect them to resources. The wellness team also provides individualized case management and support, all centered around the resident’s choices and preferences.

In addition to the wellness teams’ work, all community staff, including maintenance, dining, administration, and social work, are trained to contribute to care coordination efforts.

R3 has been part of life at Hebrew SeniorLife’s three supportive living communities: Center Communities of Brookline, Jack Satter House in Revere, and the Simon C. Fireman Community in Randolph. It now serves more residents at the expanded Fireman Community and at the newly opened Leyland Community in Dorchester. Other R3 partner locations include the Riverside Towers in Medford, the Brookline Housing Authority senior housing sites in Brookline, the Hamilton Wade Douglas House in Brockton, the Milton Residences for the Elderly in Milton, and the MLK Towers in Roxbury.  

Brooks works closely with R3 Executive Director Stephanie Small and the R3 leadership team — Mimi Lewis, Rebecca Donato, Anya Gorodetskaya, Effie Hathaway, and Angela Labonte — who support the staff members doing this important work across all 15 communities.

To learn more about Integrating Health Care and Affordable Housing at Hebrew SeniorLife, please watch our new video.

About Hebrew SeniorLife
Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Hebrew SeniorLife cares for more than 4,500 seniors a day across campuses throughout Greater Boston. Locations include: Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-Boston and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-NewBridge in Dedham; NewBridge on the Charles, Dedham; Orchard Cove, Canton; Simon C. Fireman Community, Randolph; Center Communities of Brookline, Brookline; Jack Satter House, Revere; and Leyland Community, Dorchester. Founded in 1903, Hebrew SeniorLife also conducts influential research into aging at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, which has a portfolio of more than $98 million, making it one of the largest gerontological research facilities in the U.S. in a clinical setting. It also trains more than 500 geriatric care providers each year. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, follow us on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn.