The Massachusetts Healthy Living Center of Excellence, a collaboration between Hebrew SeniorLife and Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley, has announced grants totaling more than $1.3 million from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation  and the John A. Hartford Foundation.

The first private-sector grants received by HLCE, which to date has been funded through state and federal grants, will support the development of a centralized infrastructure and six new regional coalitions to expand disease management and wellness programs across the state. Among other things, HLCE aims to make it easier for providers in the state to refer their patients to such programs and for older healthcare consumers to manage their chronic conditions and become active participants in their own care health care.

To that end, the center has selected regional agencies to coordinate efforts in specific geographic market. They include Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley (northeastern Massachusetts), Ethos (Boston area), BayPath Elder Services (MetroWest), Elder Services of Worcester Area (central Massachusetts), Franklin County Home Care Corporation (western Massachusetts), and Old Colony Elder Services (southeastern Massachusetts).

"HLCE is in essence creating an integrated delivery system in which healthcare systems, community-based social services and older adults collaborate as partners to improve care and lower costs," said Jim Roosevelt, president of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and CEO of Tufts Health Plan. "With all eyes on healthcare reform, this new model has the potential to set the stage for national change in the way health care is delivered and embraced."