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NCH to have bigger presence at Arlington Hts. senior center

Northwest Community Hospital will have a bigger presence at the Arlington Heights Senior Center, thanks to a new agreement approved by the village board on Monday.

The new agreement is an extension of what has already been in place between the senior center and NCH since 1999, but with additional services for senior center visitors, said Karen Hansen, senior center manager.

"We've been exploring avenues of how we can get increased health programs at the senior center, and this fulfills that mission," Hansen said.

Char Padovani, a longtime health educator, was recently hired by NCH to be the senior services liaison between the hospital and the center.

For July and August, Northwest Community added 39 programs, including classes on mental health, arthritis, dementia, Medicare, osteoporosis, healthy eating and more, taught by doctors and nurses.

Nurses will also be stationed at the senior center three days a week for "Ask a Nurse" programs with coffee and specific topics about health and wellness.

"Seniors are a very large part of our population so it's important to make sure their needs are being met," Padovani said. "We want to be where the seniors are."

The partnership will also provide programming at NCH including tours of the hospital.

"The hospital can be a confusing place so we want to make sure they feel comfortable," Padovani said.

Under the agreement, Northwest Community Hospital will rent 116 square feet of office space in the senior center and Padovani will keep regular hours there from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Thursday.

Northwest Community Hospital will pay for its own telephone services, copies and an annual fee of $4 per square foot to help cover custodial services, according to the agreement, which is effective until April 30, 2016.

"They will provide specialty health care programming on a variety of topics, and we're really excited about that," said James McCalister, head of health services for the village.

The programs are all free, though some require registration. For more information, call the Arlington Heights Senior Center at (847) 253 -5532.

The full list of programs is in the senior center newsletter, at www.arlingtonseniorsinc.com/wp-content/.s/2014/06/2014JulyAugust.pdf.

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