Elaina Goldstein

Health care insurance is a hot topic, from the White House to legislative chambers to boardrooms and kitchen tables. Everyone’s trying to make it work.

Enter Associate Research Professor Elaina K. Goldstein, J.D., M.P.A., an expert in the field of public policy and health care. Having worked for decades in support of adults with cognitive and other disabilities, she knew this was one group that would benefit from a new approach to care.

This summer, she received a $14 million “Health Care Innovation” grant for a three-year project called “Living Rite-A Disruptive Solution for Management of Chronic Care Disease,” from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services‘ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Her proposal was one of 107 chosen from among 3,000 applications nationwide and is one of only three at higher education institutions in New England.

Professor Goldstein’s grant should save the federal and state government millions in health care costs by coordinating better care of adults with disabilities to prevent illness, emergency room visits, nursing home care, and hospitalization. She’s leading an interdisciplinary team in creating the first “Living Rite” center at a well-known facility, AccessPoint in Cranston, R.I.

“This is an exciting partnership. There is no way we’re going to be successful without the partnership — with the private sector, the people with disabilities, the care providers and the state agencies — to really make this happen. I am incredibly encouraged,” Professor Goldstein explained at the press conference announcing the grant.

Such innovative projects are not new to Professor Goldstein, who joined the University’s College of Pharmacy in 2001. Over the past decade, she has facilitated collaborative processes, bringing together working stakeholder coalitions to work toward systems change, exemplified by the accomplishments of her work focusing on adults with disabilities. In 2000 she received a $6 million Medicaid Infrastructure grant and founded Rhodes to Independence, an organization that helps people with disabilities secure and sustain competitive employment in integrated settings. She continues as its executive director.

Press Conference: State, legislative and other leaders join with Professor Goldstein to describe the impact of this grant and the University’s national leadership.