‘I don’t worry about it anymore’: PACE provides peace of mind for Cambridge City couple

When Linda and Bill Vandivier joined Reid Health Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), they expected to get help managing Bill's health needs and physical therapy. What they didn't expect was how much the program would support them both.

This year has been challenging for the Cambridge City couple. But with help from family and Reid Health PACE, Linda has found peace of mind knowing she has a team to help coordinate Bill's care.

"The PACE Center has been wonderful," Linda said. "I never dreamed they would do all of this."

The couple initially wasn't sure what to expect from PACE.

"We knew nothing about it. I thought it was more or less a daycare for the elderly," Linda said.

They first heard about the program during one of Bill's hospital stays. Their oldest daughter learned about the PACE Center from a friend with family members who are participants in the program. The friend encouraged her to tell her parents about PACE and see how it could help.

She called the PACE Center, and a team member visited Linda and Bill at the hospital to explain the program.

PACE is designed to help participants live safely and independently in the community. Each participant works with a comprehensive team that evaluates their medical, functional, social, and cognitive needs to develop a unique care plan.

When Bill returned home, a team member visited to discuss the couple's needs and help them enroll. On Aug. 1, 2025, they officially joined Reid Health PACE.

Before his health declined, Linda drove them from their home to the PACE Center twice a week. He attended physical therapy while she participated in exercise classes. Together, they shared meals with other participants, played Bingo, and enjoyed socializing.

PACE also helped coordinate Bill's medical care, including transportation to appointments and therapy, medications, and medical supplies.

"The PACE Center has been great to work with me, too, on my medicines and different things," Linda said.

She quickly realized the program offered more than she had expected.

"The kindness, the caring. They all wanted to help Bill. They wanted to help me with anything that needed to be done and Bill's therapy," Linda said.

"I just was flabbergasted. They blew my mind. Everybody works together, and it has just been wonderful."

As they've faced one challenge after another over the past year, Linda and Bill have come to appreciate the support PACE provides. Bill lives with myasthenia gravis, a chronic condition that causes muscles to weaken and tire easily. He has been hospitalized multiple times and has gradually lost the strength to stand on his own.

At the same time, Linda faced health challenges of her own, including surgery in March. Unable to care for Bill during her six-week recovery, the family made the difficult decision to move him into a nursing facility. After a brief return home, Bill moved to his current nursing facility. He has since experienced additional hospitalizations and further declines in strength and mobility.

PACE has continued working with Linda to coordinate Bill's care as his needs change.

For instance, when Linda noticed changes in Bill's behavior and became concerned he might have another urinary tract infection, she asked the nursing home to test him. Because the test required an order from PACE, Linda stopped at the PACE Center to request one.

The PACE team quickly ordered the test, which confirmed the infection, and Bill began taking medication to treat it. When his symptoms worsened over the following days, PACE helped coordinate his transfer to the emergency department, where he received additional treatment.

To make daily life more manageable, the couple also moved from their home of 25 years to an apartment on Cambridge City's east side.

"When he started getting a little worse, I was trying to take care of the yard, the house, him, and it just got to be too much," Linda said.

The move has made it easier for Linda to manage while continuing to visit Bill at the nursing facility.

PACE has also helped ease some of the financial burden of managing their medical needs. Both are retired and live on a fixed income, Linda said.

"Financially, I don't know where we'd be today if it wasn't for PACE," she said

Throughout the changes and challenges, the couple has also relied on each other and family for support throughout the past year. They celebrated their 59th anniversary this summer. Both are graduates of Lincoln High School, they met when Linda was a sophomore and Bill was a junior. They raised their two daughters in Cambridge City and now have six grandchildren, and their third great-grandchild is on the way.

Although it has been difficult to live separately, Linda said the support from PACE and Bill's nursing facility has given her peace of mind. She visits him every day.

"I don't worry about it anymore," she said. "I know he's being taken care of."

Linda is especially grateful for the nurses and therapists who care for Bill at the nursing facility, as well as those who have worked with him at Reid Health's Acute Rehabilitation Unit.

"They take wonderful care of Bill," she said.

Linda continues to tell others about Reid Health PACE and its programs whenever she has the opportunity.

"The nurses, the secretaries, the whole place, everybody has just been wonderful," Linda said. "I can't believe they can get that many people to work in one place that all care."

For information or to learn more about the Reid Health PACE Center, call (765) 935-8959 or visit https://reidhealth.org/Medical-Services/PACE-Center.