“We see the need, which is so great and only getting greater here in our community, with 30+ senior living communities in Lancaster County.”
Memory loss is a disease that will increase significantly over the next 20 to 30 years as baby boomers creep into their 70’s and beyond. It’s estimated that in the United States alone, a new Alzheimer’s diagnosis is made every 64 seconds. There’s an incredible need to make sure that healthcare providers are properly trained to treat patients and families who are coping with cognitive impairment in ways that maintain dignity, compassion and respect.
Ken Brubaker, MD, a nationally-renowned geriatrician and graduate of LG Health’s Family Medicine Residency Program, and his wife Pamela Brubaker, RN, BSN and MSW, have dedicated their careers to the care and treatment of the elderly, particularly those who are frail and more vulnerable to memory loss.
“We see the need, which is so great and only getting greater here in our community, with 30+ senior living communities in Lancaster County,” explained Dr. Brubaker. This is what fueled their decision to seed The Kenneth and Pamela Brubaker Center for Geriatric Learning Endowment in 2016. The endowment will be used to educate providers, ensuring access to specialized training to care for frail geriatric patients.
Ken retired from full-time practice with LG Health Physicians Geriatrics last summer, but he continues to work as Medical Director at Masonic Village in Elizabethtown, as well as on state and national boards for long-term care communities. And Pam started the LG Health Memory Loss Support Group for caregivers some 20 years ago. The group continues to meet at the Suburban Pavilion on the second Monday of each month, 7pm – 8:30pm in the 3rd Floor Conference Center. Pam and Ken continue to volunteer their time facilitating a monthly support group for their friends and neighbors caring for a loved one with memory loss in western Lancaster County.
“It’s going to be rare, if it already isn’t, if memory loss doesn’t affect someone you know and love,” said Dr. Brubaker. “One in every 100 Americans has diagnosed cognitive impairment by the age of 60. And that number more than doubles at the ages of 65, then 70 and so on.”
Thanks to the Brubaker’s legacy gift, we will all benefit from a healthcare workforce that is better equipped to care for our loved ones, and maybe even ourselves, now and well into the future.