Are you helping to care for an older adult? Let us teach you the basics during an interactive new program just launched this year. It’s the Caregiver Training Lab, with instruction from the experts at Morristown Medical Center’s Geriatric Assessment Center. For more information, call 973-971-7022.
”I remember his words to date,” says Keerti Sharma, MD, chief of geriatrics for Morristown Medical Center, speaking of one of her former patients. “He told me, ‘I want someone to be the captain of my ship.’"
Iris M., 72, of Somerset recalls that conversation, when her husband, Ron, first met Dr. Sharma and her team at the Geriatric Assessment Center at Morristown Medical Center, part of the David and Joan Powell Center for Healthy Aging.
The couple had realized in 2017 that Ron, with serious health issues, just had too many medical specialists to keep up with. They searched for a single, central provider, who could talk to each physician he saw, review each treatment and medicine he had, and let them know what services would help him with his health issues – and help Iris to continue to age well.
They found that kind of care at the Geriatric Assessment Center. The center brings together specialists in older adults (geriatrics), like Dr. Sharma, to help coordinate care among each patient’s many different providers. Social workers, nurse practitioners and others also help them and their families identify care or support they might need – from transportation to care at home and assistance with issues related to memory loss.
Dr. Sharma became a trusted ally and friend throughout Ron’s life, and she continues to be important to Iris.
“Dr. Sharma even offered us encouragement by telephone just before Ron died peacefully at home in 2019,” Iris says. “She and the whole staff have been so loving, warm and kind to me and my family. It’s amazing care.”
Learn more about the Geriatric Assessment Center >
Dr. Sharma and the Geriatric Assessment Center are part of Atlantic Medical Group, a multidisciplinary network of health care providers. She can be reached at 973-971-7022.