San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living and UCSF Expand Partnership

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jewish Home & Rehab Center (JHRC) on the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living (SFCJL) has embarked on an extraordinary new organization change to its medical care and oversight. A new JHRC – UCSF Partnership in Geriatric Medicine provides integrated and coordinated delivery of clinical care expertise in geriatrics and palliative care across UCSF and SFCJL's post-acute rehabilitation, expanding the reach of UCSF geriatricians in our community.

Together, this community-academic partnership enhances the care of our community's most complex patients by integrating geriatric models of care with education and research. These models focus on four (4) key elements to provide high-quality elder care (4M's), which are integral to Age-Friendly Health Systems: Medications, Mobility, Mentation (e.g., cognition, confusion), and, what Matters. "Bringing together clinical care, education and research creates new knowledge and creating new knowledge is what makes us leaders in the care of older persons. We are developing best practices that others will follow," said Louise Walter MD, USCF Chief, Division of Geriatrics.

Michi Yukawa, MD, the new Post-Acute Medical Director at JHRC, provides physician leadership for implementing a new patient care partnership in which UCSF geriatricians and fellows provide for patients discharged from UCSF Health to JHRC's 120-bed short-stay rehabilitation unit.

Dr. Yukawa is a geriatric medicine specialist and Professor in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics. "We will collaborate with UCSF inpatient providers to enable smooth transition of patient care to the Jewish Home, as well as coordinate discharge to the community with patients' primary care providers," said Dr. Yukawa, who has more than 10 years of experience as a medical director of skilled nursing facilities in the private sector and at the Veterans Health Administration. 

On October 1, SFCJL welcomed palliative care medical director Spencer Christensen, MD, a UCSF-board certified palliative care physician in the Division of Palliative Medicine, who is responsible for developing and implementing an educational and clinical program that supports palliative care across SFCJL, in both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care units. 

Drs. Yukawa and Christensen work together with Drs. Lindsey Haddock, Kenneth Lam and Richard Parenteau of the UCSF Division of Geriatrics.

To complete the SFCJL geriatric medical leadership, SFCJL is pleased to announce Bennett Zier, MD as the new Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Zier joined SFCJL 10 years ago and has made an enormous impact on thousands of patients, their families, and clinical staff. Working with Dr. Zier is Elaine Gecht, MD, SFCJL long term care medical director and Stephen Hall, MD, SFCJL acute psychiatric unit medical director.

"This is a natural expansion of our very successful relationship," said Daniel Ruth, CEO of SFCJL. "Together with UCSF, SFCJL will enhance the health of our community's most complex patients by improving care delivery and coordination and by training future leaders in the care of older people. We could not be more pleased to have UCSF expanding their role in our campus clinical operations and we look forward to continuing to grow this important program in the coming years."

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SOURCE San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living