Quitman memory care center plans progressing

Posted 5/26/22

The plans for a memory health and education center to be located in Quitman are well underway to make the dream a reality. Plans call for the center to be located on 29 acres east of facilities at UT …

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Quitman memory care center plans progressing

Posted

The plans for a memory health and education center to be located in Quitman are well underway to make the dream a reality. Plans call for the center to be located on 29 acres east of facilities at UT Health Quitman on Highway 154 (E. Goode St.).  

The Center for Memory Health & Education (CMHE) is a regional opportunity to create a central hub for brain health. It will focus on education, training, diagnostics, treatment, and care. It represents a regional Northeast Texas rural opportunity with a needed rural focus for Texas and the U.S. and can serve as a national model for brain healthcare. 

A group of local civic and business leaders, including Wood County Hospital Board Members Annette Simpkins and Orval Lindsey, and UT Health subject matter experts, guided by internationally renowned experts Dr. John Zeisel and Sharon Johnson of the Hearthstone Institute, have spent considerable time and financial resources on the developing framework for the initial model. 

Quitman Mayor Randy Dunn has been a part of the process since its inception.

“There are ongoing activities within different committees. The leadership team has a scheduled conference call every two weeks,” Dunn said. “As we begin to develop definite plans we will communicate that to the public.”

This project is urgently needed to meet the expected increase in Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnosis which is projected to triple to 14 million nationwide by 2050. The CMHE will be designed to meet the needs of people living with cognitive challenges, those who care for them and those who treat them. The purpose is to elevate and revolutionize this area of medicine while also bringing academic and medical prestige to the region. 

The CMHE will incorporate a central concept to include a “Living Lab” which is a geriatric residential care and treatment center where residents participate in practical non-invasive non-pharmacological research and development efforts and where medical students and others learn and train in groundbreaking approaches to dementia care and treatment. 

Training will include all levels of healthcare workers from physicians to CNAs to nurses to EMTs, as well as home health workers and family member caregivers. The concept will be focused on the “I’m Still Here” approach to person-centered care, design and treatment of those living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. 

Partnerships with regional assets will be essential. In turn, these relationships will broadcast the successes regionally and nationally. The Living Lab, as the hub, will link UT Health and the upcoming UT Medical School and other regional UT complexes, as well as other partners such as Baylor and Christus, area community colleges and service agencies. 

The project will provide substantial measurable impacts in regional wellness and economic development. An econometric impact model developed by economist Dr. Ray Perryman projects 18,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs over the first 10 years after the medical school opens.  Specific to the CMHE, employment opportunities will be created for support staff for the living laboratory/assisted living site, as well as instructors for UT Health and UT Medical School.