40 Years of Caring for the New York Community
This year (2025), CenterLight Healthcare is celebrating 40 years of providing managed care—a perfect time to look back at our rich history of caring for the New York Community.
A New Kind of Healthcare
In 1973, the healthcare industry saw a shift in the way care is provided. With an increasing number of aging immigrants, diverse cultural traditions helped shape a new model of care. Immigrants from countries such as China, Indonesia, and the Philippines required an alternative to nursing homes and a way for those who needed long-term care to be able to remain in their homes with their families, while receiving the services they need. As a result, On Lok in California became the first to introduce a managed care program now known as the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).
As the need for solutions like PACE grew across the country, States started seeing an increase in the number of managed long-term care plans. CenterLight Healthcare, then known as Comprehensive Care Management (CCM), begun as a demonstration program and started providing case management and comprehensive services 4 decades ago – making it one of New York State’s oldest long-term managed care programs. In 1992, we enrolled our first participant, marking the beginning of what is to become the largest not-for-profit PACE program in the nation.
Serving the Diverse New York Community
While our operations started in the Bronx, CCM started expanding its service area in 1996. PACE centers opened in Westchester, Chinatown, and Allerton in the Bronx. Our Stillwell Center opened its doors in 2005 to serve Russian and Asian participants, and our 99th Street Manhattan location opened the year after, serving a diverse group of older adults, including English and Spanish-speaking individuals.
In 2009, three more PACE centers opened. Our Ridgewood location brought services to the Albanian community and others in Queens, and our Rockaway Parkway center started serving English and Haitian Creole speaking participants in Brooklyn. Working to find innovative solutions for communities with unique needs, we opened a PACE center in the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Dominic in Amityville, Long Island, with the goal of providing care to the nuns aging in. This site was the first of its kind built to answer a need within a specific community.
The Birth of the CenterLight Brand
In 2012, our parent organization, which at the time included, among others, nursing homes, a Medicaid Managed Long-Term Care Program, a Medicare Special Needs Plan, and of course PACE, recognized growth opportunities and the importance of being known as one strong brand. This was the birth of CenterLight Healthcare.
Over the next few years, CenterLight PACE opened more locations across New York, including Bushwick in Brooklyn and Flushing, bringing our services to the Chinese and Korean communities in Queens.
DID YOU KNOW?
Our parent organization was originally founded in 1920 to serve the needs of the Jewish population in the Bronx. Paying homage to this heritage, the name “CenterLight” came from the center light in the menorah, which lights all the other candles. Decades later, the significance of “CenterLight” has evolved to putting our participants at the center of everything we do, and the fact that our participants are the lights of our PACE centers.
A Focus on All-Inclusive Care
In 2017, CenterLight evolved once again to meet the changing needs of older adults and demands of the healthcare industry, separating from the other entities within our parent organization’s umbrella and setting our more focused efforts on PACE, with a renewed mission of helping participants live safely and independently in their own homes.
2023 saw the birth of our new visual identity (see video), further strengthening our commitment to our mission and reflecting our values. In the same year, we opened our Jamaica South Asian Alternative Care Setting (ACS), with programs designed for South Asian participants, including prayer and wudu rooms, cultural programming, meditation rooms, and South Asian food.
Looking Ahead
Looking back at our history, the many changes our organization has been through, and the challenges we’ve faced and triumphed over, I feel proud to be part of a compassionate team whose dedication helping enrich the lives of those we serve remains steadfast. Decades have passed since our story begun, but we are all still working towards the same goal of making a difference and serving the underserved. Our track record in continuing to innovate and finding in-home solutions for our participants make me very enthusiastic about our future. With our unwavering focus on our participants’ unique needs, it is my hope that we can continue to expand our care to more individuals who need it most for more decades to come.
To the CenterLight team, thank you for sharing your heart and talents for a larger purpose. To our participants, we are grateful that you continue to trust us with your care.
As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, look out for events across our 12 locations—including a participant art exhibit, a centenarian celebration, and other cultural and special celebrations.
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Updated December 24, 2024
This blog post is written by Tara Buonocore-Rut, President and Chief Executive Officer at CenterLight Healthcare PACE.
