An Interview with Vanessa Hensley, Executive Director of Appalachian Brian Estates Independent Living Community
Hopscotch Primary Care is dedicated to supporting seniors’ healthcare needs in Western NC and beyond. But we can’t do it alone. That’s why we seek out partnerships with like-minded organizations who share our commitment to seniors and want to join us in advocating for their health and wellness.
Our stakeholders share our mission and help us expand our reach. With them, we’re able to help more rural seniors in need.
We’re honored to collaborate with outstanding senior organizations like Appalachian Brian Estates. This Boone, NC independent living community is part of the Choice Health Management Services collection of long- and short-term senior living and care providers, with locations in NC and SC.
Hopscotch was inspired to partner with this community after connecting with Executive Director, Vanessa Hensley. Vanessa shares our drive to innovate and elevate senior healthcare services.
We’ve worked with Vannessa to create a customized partnership for her community’s residents. Through it, they’ve gained access to our comprehensive, customized primary care and are already reaping the rewards of healthcare services designed just for them.
With a diverse background in sociology, home health and hospice, assisted living administration, and marketing, Vanessa has a comprehensive and multifaceted viewpoint of seniors’ issues and needs. This unique perspective leads her to be innovative and proactive in addressing issues modern seniors face, from healthcare to quality of life.
We recently connected with Vanessa to learn more about her collaboration with Hopscotch Primary Care and how this partnership has benefitted her residents so far.
Discover what she shared in our wide-ranging discussion.
An interview with Vanessa Hensley of Appalachian Brian Estates independent living community in Boone, NC
Hopscotch:
We’re thrilled to connect with you, Vanessa, and to learn more about your partnership with Hopscotch Primary Care!
Boone, NC has a robust population of seniors, both lifelong locals and transplants. We recently chatted with Kari Morris, who shared her love of this diverse population. Can you tell us a bit about your Boone independent living community and residents?
Vanessa:
Our building was built in 1984. It still is the only independent living community in Boone. Our community is an apartment-style complex. People can live in a studio or one- or two-bedroom apartment.
I think the average age of our residents is 90. We have a few 60 and 70-year-olds, but the majority of the folks who live here are in their 80s and early 90s. We provide them with an opportunity to continue to live independently with some help with their activities of daily living.
Our goal is to help people age in place so they can remain in our community until the end of their lives. We work with outside agencies to provide our residents with as much care here as possible.
That’s why building relationships with partners like Hopscotch is so important to us.
Hopscotch:
How did your partnership with Hopscotch come about?
Vanessa:
It’s an interesting story. Before coming here, my background was in home health and hospice. I’m also a certified assisted living administrator.
So, I know how important it is to develop a relationship with providers. Having established partnerships means our nurses can easily communicate about our residents’ needs and any changes they’re seeing with the doctors we’ve built relationships with.
It’s nice to have a close-knit relationship with doctors and providers in the community who can help us provide comprehensive care to our residents.
Clay, who is a Hopscotch outreach leader, came by here one day and left his card. I immediately called him to invite him to come by and meet with me. When he came by, I drilled him for information (laughs). I had a lot of questions about what he was offering and wanted him to lay everything out.
He explained to me about the Hopscotch model, with the 24-hour on-call nurse, the same-day appointments, the low patient-to-doctor ratio, and the focus on patients who qualify for Medicare. Based on that, I decided we could work together.
I also laid out everything I needed for my residents. I told him we needed access and to be able to get in touch with providers when we needed to. I told him I was going to put him to the test. (laughs)
We’ve promoted Hopscotch to our residents and allowed them to come in to do presentations. A lot of the residents have decided to go with them.
It was great timing because it coincided with a lot of changes that were happening in the hospital system here. I was impressed with the idea of a clinic that focuses on older adults. We don’t have a lot of that here in Boone, so having Hopscotch come into this area and fill that need has been wonderful.
Hopscotch:
How has this partnership benefited your residents so far?
Vanessa:
It’s amazing! To be honest, I was still a bit skeptical when we sent our first resident to Hopscotch’s clinic. I was beyond pleasantly surprised to witness how Hopscotch backs up what they say with their actions.
The way it works with Hopscotch is that the first appointment is almost an hour long. The patient gets to meet the doctor and the whole interdisciplinary team. You get to talk about what your insurance provides for and doesn’t and get answers to all your questions.
Our first resident who went to the Hopscotch clinic for her initial appointment came back and was just elated by the whole experience. She told us: “I can’t believe someone actually did what they said they were gonna do! They’re really helping me!” She was so excited and has been Hopscotch’s biggest fan since that moment.
At one point, she needed a very expensive medicine. Someone at Hopscotch helped her find the medication for a lower cost at our local health and hunger coalition. Just to see her so happy and excited was wonderful.
We had another resident here who had COVID-19. She was getting better but it can be a long road to recovery, especially with older people. Hopscotch has a nurse who comes into our building to see people, which I think is amazing. She had called me later in the day on a Friday and left me a message. The resident’s daughter was out of town and she needed Mucinex. The nurse wanted to see if there was someone who could help get her some so she’d have it over the weekend. I didn’t get her message until Monday and I was so worried, thinking she may have gone the whole weekend without Mucinex. I immediately called the resident to check in on her and she said “Oh, Colleen went and got it for me.” So, the nurse from Hopscotch went and got her the medicine she needed for the weekend. I thought: “Wow! Who does that? That’s so amazing.” I was extremely happy about that.
I’ve also forged a great relationship with Clay. He does a lot of educational events here and has helped us set up several different events and activities.
So far, everything Clay promised in our first conversation about Hopscotch has come about.
Hopscotch:
What services does Hopscotch offer your patients? Any you (or they) are especially impressed with?
Vanessa:
Hopscotch’s Community Health Workers provide hugely important help to those who live here.
In independent living, I sometimes call it the black hole. All our residents are private pay. That means most don’t qualify for Medicaid or any services offered by DSS, such as food stamps, EBT programs, or things like that.
There’s a stereotype about independent living that people who can pay for private pay communities have a lot of money. It’s simply not true. The reality is that a lot of the folks here live paycheck to paycheck, or their child supplements their income to help them be able to live here. They also have other expenditures.
I’m so thankful that there’s a group of people who not only take care of their physical and health needs but are focused on their social and economic needs, as well. With my background in social work, I love anyone who spends time helping older adults find resources. That’s probably my favorite thing Hopscotch offers our community.
My second favorite thing about Hopscotch when it comes to our residents is their help with insurance. They have a person who sits down with them and goes through their insurance plans. They explain to them what their insurance will cover and will not cover.
During open enrollment, there’s often a huge gap that allows insurance companies to exploit older adults and get them to purchase plans that don’t cover what they truly need. It’s nice that Hopscotch has someone to help them navigate that and advocate for them when it comes to insurance.
(Note: We call these professionals our Patient Relations Managers. We recently interviewed one of these wonderful Hopscotch team members so you can learn more about what they offer. Stay tuned!)
Hopscotch:
How does your care collaboration with Hopscotch differentiate you from other senior living providers?
Vanessa:
I’ve toured and researched many other independent living communities and I feel something many lack is a close relationship with a provider. Hopscotch isn’t in-house, but they provide our residents with easy access to great care.
We have a lot of residents with dementia, or who struggle with chronic conditions like CHF, neuropathy, and high blood pressure. Those are issues they can be sent out for and hospitalized as a result of. I believe that every time someone is sent out of this building, there’s a chance they won’t be able to return.
Our motto is always to be proactive rather than reactive. Our relationship with Hopscotch differentiates us because we can be proactive with our residents’ care. We can call them when we have a question or if we need something from the nurse or doctor. This can help prevent someone from having to go to the hospital.
Hopscotch’s same-day appointments are also awesome. They’re also boots on the ground when we need them. They sent a nurse over to test a resident for COVID-19, which meant I didn’t need to send that person to the hospital to be tested.
All of those things are invaluable. You can’t get that anywhere else.
I’m also all about a holistic approach to senior health. I don’t love it when seniors take 30 medicines to manage all the symptoms and side effects of their other medications.
Hopscotch does a good job of taking a holistic approach to care. They certainly give medicine when it’s needed, but they also consider other ways to approach things when they can.
Hopscotch:
What impressed you most about Hopscotch and their approach to primary care?
Vanessa:
Their whole model is based on aging adults. Everything they’re thinking about and planning for, all the programs they’re putting in place, and their interdisciplinary approach are focused on seniors. As the population of the country is aging, this is becoming more and more necessary.
When I did my Gerontology degree, one of the main focuses of my research was on why seniors don’t often ask for help when they need it. I think having the kind of family feel that Hopscotch provides supports their asking for what they need more often.
When they go to Hopscotch, they’re met by people who greet them and ask about them and don’t rush them through the process. When you go into a place where everyone is friendly and offers to help you and asks after your family, it makes seniors feel loved and cared for. That personal touch makes a huge difference, especially with seniors.
They’re doing what they set out to do. So far, every one of our residents who has been over to Hopscotch has had a great experience.
(Note: About a third of Vanessa’s residents are already Hopscotch patients and our Hopscotch Boone clinic location only opened in late August of 2024!)
Hopscotch:
Why is comprehensive, collaborative care so vital for seniors’ health and wellness?
Vanessa:
I’ve seen it a lot in the hospice realm, but things can get very complicated very quickly when it comes to caring for seniors.
With senior care coordination, it can sometimes feel like the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. There can be so many different doctors, agencies, and people in the mix that it can make it difficult to manage and coordinate care.
We all have to work together and communication is key. Collaborative care is amazing for seniors. The best outcomes depend on everyone communicating and working together. Hopscotch not only understands that but makes it a core part of their approach.
Hopscotch:
How does Hopscotch’s focus on serving the health needs of seniors set them apart from other primary care providers?
Vanessa:
Regular primary care providers see such a wide demographic of patients. To me, it’s more difficult for them to focus on what seniors need. Because seniors are a unique and complicated population of patients.
So, I think having a provider that is truly focused on seniors is so important.
With Hopscotch, all their continuing education is focused on older adults; their office is even set up for seniors, from the chairs they have to offering accessibility for those using wheelchairs and rollators. All of their thought processes and systems are focused on older adults. I think older adults get better care that way.
Hopscotch’s model is very needed. And I think it’s great.
Hopscotch:
What advice would you give to other senior living brands interested in establishing a similar partnership?
Vanessa:
My advice would be to be cognizant of what your building needs and to be open and honest with Hopscotch (or any organization you’re working with) about what you want and need. I think if you’re very clear on what you see with your residents and what they need then they can be clear about whether or not they can offer that.
You also need to be prepared to hold your partners accountable. I haven’t had to do that with Hopscotch because they hold themselves accountable and operate to such a high standard.
I think it’s worth it in the end to establish good relationships from the get-go with community partners so that you can provide the best living situation for your residents. Our focus right now is about quality, not quantity of life. We want to give our residents all the resources we can find to help them live their best lives here in our independent living community.
I think we should all imagine how we want to be treated when we’re older. I would want somebody thinking about me and fighting for me if and when I needed it. I feel like Hopscotch understands that, too, and has made it part of their mission.
We’re honored to partner with Vanessa to offer her independent living residents the best in senior-focused primary care. Do you share our commitment to uplifting the health and wellness needs of rural seniors? Reach out to connect with us!
Hopscotch is always interested in developing partnerships with stakeholders who share our values and mission to enhance the lives of seniors, through top-quality primary care. Learn more about how we can collaborate to deliver the best comprehensive care for seniors.