Home Instead and UNMC: ‘A match made in heaven’

Toby Fellman is 74 and a second generation patient of UNMC’s Jane Potter, M.D.

Fellman’s mother also saw Dr. Potter, division chief of geriatrics, and for many years Fellman has had a front row seat to view the passion Dr. Potter brings into her work with older patients.

When Fellman heard that Dr. Potter and UNMC would join forces with Home Instead Senior Care, a company dedicated to helping seniors age at home, to form a comprehensive care center on the medical center campus, it seemed all too natural.

Grand images The slideshow above features images from Monday’s opening ceremonies for the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging. Double click on the images to see more information. (Photos by David Hussey)

“Home Instead and Dr. Potter is a match made in heaven,” Fellman said Monday at the opening ceremony for the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging.

UNMC and Home Instead have provided a strong resource for seniors with the comprehensive center, Fellman said. She is particularly impressed with the facility’s wellness center, which will help seniors get and stay in shape.

“The Home Instead Center’s Wellness Center is to geriatric care what the Holland Center is to performing arts,” Fellman said, referring to downtown Omaha’s state-of-the-art Holland Center for the Performing Arts.

Sharon Brangman, M.D., president of the American Geriatrics Society attended Monday’s event and praised UNMC and Home Instead for their proactive approach to senior care.

Public open house A public open house for the Home Instead Center will be Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. The center will open to patients on Sept. 13.

Such measures are particularly important as the country braces for what she called the “Silver Tsunami,” a reference to the 79 million baby boomers who soon will become senior citizens.

The Home Instead Center’s opening marks the culmination of a long-held dream for Dr. Potter and other geriatric care providers on campus who have longed to provide the kind of comprehensive and wellness focused care the center will allow.

Helping that dream become a reality was incredibly powerful, said Lori Hogan, who along with her husband, Paul, founded Home Instead Senior Care and provided the lead gift for the new center on the UNMC campus.

“Isn’t it a great time to be a senior?” Hogan said. “I think so!”