Lifesprk Launches Primary Care, Adds Independence Officer

MINNEAPOLIS—Minneapolis-based Lifesprk, a provider of whole person senior care since 2004, is expanding its service offerings by launching Lifesprk Health, a primary care service. Lifesprk has also added geriatrician, Dr. Bill Thomas, who was named one of the 12 most influential Americans shaping aging in the 21st century by the Wall Street Journal.  

For more than a decade, Lifesprk has forged a whole person senior care model that provides services to seniors in a variety of settings, including skilled-nursing, assisted living, memory care or wherever someone may call home.

While the model was built on a private pay homecare platform, in 2016 Lifesprk added skilled home health services for seniors. The company is also a community service provider and partner to more than 20 organizations across the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, including hospitals and health systems, senior living providers, insurers, member associations and other community-based organizations.

Additionally, in May 2018, Lifesprk expanded nationally through a joint venture with Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare.

Lifesprk Health will provide primary care services for seniors in any setting delivered by physicians and nurse practitioners specializing in geriatrics. The addition of Lifesprk Health allows the company to bring a full complement of services that seniors need to address not only their health issues but other social determinants that play an equally important role in a senior’s ability to maintain independence and thrive. Currently, Lifesprk Health is only available in a select number of senior living communities in the Minneapolis area but is expected to expand regionally and nationally in 2019.   

“While person-centric care is changing the narrative among health care leaders today, whole person senior care has been our practice and passion for the past 14 years,” said Lifesprk Founder and CEO Joel Theisen. “We believe in creating solutions that deliver the support, care and resources seniors need to live full, independent and connected lives. Lifesprk Health expands upon our approach by bringing seniors an even higher level of care and expertise to wherever they call home.”

Thomas, an author, performer and international authority on geriatric medicine, joins the company as its Independence Officer. In this role he will lead the development to integrate Lifesprk’s primary care with its overall life care model of whole person senior care nationally. Thomas is the founder of The Eden Alternative, an effort that de-institutionalized nursing homes in all 50 states and worldwide over the past 20 years. Thomas also pioneered the Green House Project which developed a new model for long-term care. As a professor at The Erickson School at UMBC, he led development of the nation’s first emergency department designed for older adults.

“What makes Lifesprk a leader is that they have founded a patient-centered model that puts the senior in the middle so solutions surround that person,” Thomas said. “Providing whole person senior care is about strength, purpose and belonging so people get the most out of life. While there are many large companies trying to fix a broken system, Lifesprk is already there and I’m excited to work with them to introduce this model nationally.”

For more information, visit lifesprk.com.