ADRC Governing Board Meets in Keshena March 10 to Address Medicare, Community Needs

The Aging and Disability Resource Center of the Wolf River Region convenes its Governing Board this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at the Menominee County Department of Human Services on Wolf River Road in Keshena, with an agenda covering Medicare updates, board nominations, and community needs.

The meeting takes place at W3272 Wolf River Rd., the same Keshena address where the board has gathered for years. The agenda items signal continued attention to federal health coverage programs that directly affect older adults and people with disabilities across the region, alongside what appears to be routine board business in the form of nominations.

The ADRC of the Wolf River Region provides aging and disability services across a multi-county area, connecting residents with options counseling, Medicaid navigation, and caregiver support resources. At a March 2024 board meeting held at the same location, Information and Assistance Specialist Lead Nicole Korth presented to the board on how the options counseling process works, explaining that staff can assist with Medicaid programs, private and publicly funded services, insurance options, and the enrollment process to get onto a family care program.

That same 2024 meeting highlighted the ADRC's expanding dementia programming. The organization had hired Ericka Kowalkowski as a Dementia Care Specialist in January 2024, and staff were already offering multiple educational trainings and caregiver programs. The Dementia Care Specialists also expanded the caregiver support group to additional locations within the region and scheduled a full year of memory cafes covering hands-on activities, including a visit to the National Railroad Museum in August and holiday craft-making in December.

ADRC Supervisor Mary Tarlton also addressed the board at the 2024 meeting on the subject of public health unwinding, a reference to the wind-down of pandemic-era Medicaid continuous enrollment protections that required states to reassess eligibility for millions of enrollees. The connection between that earlier discussion and today's Medicare updates item on the agenda reflects an ongoing challenge for agencies like the ADRC: helping community members navigate a shifting federal health coverage landscape.

Board Chairperson Grant Staszak called the March 2024 meeting to order alongside ADRC Director Kim Wolfmeyer, Fiscal Support Specialist Kristine Tuma, and nine board members including Carolyn Barke, Stephanie Holman, Anne Miller, Carolie Miller, Forrest Perez, Benjamin Warrington, Melissa Wescott, and Lynnae Zahringer.

The full agenda for today's meeting was not released in advance beyond the headline items. Anyone seeking information about ADRC services in the meantime can contact the agency directly or visit the Menominee County Department of Human Services at W3272 Wolf River Rd. in Keshena.