Salter HealthCare would like to thank all of those who helped make our 60th Anniversary/Senior Community Breakfast a tremendous success! A special thanks goes out to our dedicated staff and volunteers who helped plan and coordinate the event with other local organizations in the healthcare community, including our transportation sponsors – Action Ambulance Services, Cataldo Ambulance Service, and Lifeline Ambulance Service. We’d also like to recognize the Montvale Plaza for graciously hosting the event and catering to guests.
Another thanks goes out to all of the seniors who made the trip from surrounding towns including Reading, Medford, Stoneham, Winchester, Woburn, Burlington, Wakefield and Melrose.
Of course, last, but certainly not least, a big thanks goes out to Attorney General Healey for taking time out of her busy schedule to speak about some of the biggest issues in senior healthcare and consumer protection. A recap of Attorney Healey’s key talking points are discussed below.
Celebration of Salter HealthCare’s 60 Anniversary
Attorney General Maura Healey began by recognizing Salter HealthCare’s 60 years of serving the local community with quality rehabilitation and nursing services: “It is wonderful to see that the traditions of excellence and commitment to the community that Gershon Salter worked so hard to establish nearly six decades ago live on in the administration and dedicated staff of Salter’s three rehabilitation and nursing centers.”
“To mark the 60th anniversary of this organization is quite an accomplishment, and worthy of celebration”, Healey added.
Healthcare
Attorney General Healey stressed that rising costs remain one of the biggest issues in healthcare, reassuring the audience that access and affordability are among her top priorities. “We are working with our sister agencies in the state to monitor trends in health care costs and access to care and to address the burden of health care costs on individuals and businesses around the state”, said Healey. In addition to affordability and access, Healey also feels that giving consumers access to healthcare information with which they can make important decisions is imperative: “We are also working hard to advance initiatives to ensure that consumers have the information they need make informed decisions about their health care options…”
Elder Protection
Healey also spoke of the importance of protecting one of the largest demographics in not only Massachusetts, but the United States – elders. Said Healey, “Elder issues addressed by our office are diverse—from bringing enforcement cases for financial or physical abuse, to protecting elders from telemarketing and other scams, to helping educate consumers about important health care decisions.”
The Attorney General also provided a toll-free hotline number (1-888-AG-ELDER) that seniors may use to report elder issues and ask any questions they may have. The hotline services approximately 200 calls per day, according to Healey.
Enforcement Actions and Lawsuits
Attorney General Healey also explained to guests that her office frequently works to protect consumers from financial scams and fraudulent solicitations, of which seniors are often the target: “We have seen all too clearly that if financial products sold to consumers are misunderstood or misused, they can do real damage to people’s lives, particularly if they deprive individuals of the savings or home equity built over the course of a lifetime. So this is a big concern for us”, Healey remarked.
To summarize Healey’s pieces of advice:
- “Protect your personal information – don’t give out your Social Security, Medicare or bank account information to someone you don’t know who calls on the phone or sends an email.”
- “The IRS will not call you to tell you that you owe money – We received a lot of calls about this scam this year. It is a scam.”
- “Microsoft will not call you to tell you they have found a virus on your computer. It is a scam.”
- “I’m guessing that many of you have grandchildren. Well, that means you could be the target of the grandparent’s scam we’ve heard about in which a caller identifies himself or herself as your grandchild and claims to be in some kind of trouble and needs you to send cash immediately. It is a scam.”
- “It is not rude to hang up the phone on a telemarketer trying to sell you something you don’t want, or someone claiming that you have won a lottery, or soliciting for a charity that you don’t know and seems to be pressuring you to give on the spot.”
- “Report suspected fraud to our office.”
Community Outreach
Healey ended her talk by elaborating on some of the ways in which her office engages in community outreach. Healey confidentially expressed that attending events dedicated to the wellbeing of local seniors is a large component of the office’s community outreach program. The Attorney General also reminded the seniors in attendance that copies of “Savvy Seniors”, a publication created to help seniors avoid falling victim to financial scams and fraud, were available to take home. The event concluded with Healey answering some great questions from attendees.
Salter HealthCare is excited to celebrate its 60th year in business and will soon announce future events to recognize this landmark achievement. Please stay tuned by following our blog and social media pages for more information!
