Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)
Learn more about New England GRECC and VA Bedford Healthcare System's Team, dedicated to treating aging Veterans and advancing geriatric research.
What are GRECCs?
The Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) are VA geriatric centers of excellence focused on aging. They were established by Congress in 1975 to improve the health and health care of older Veterans. They are located at 20 medical centers across the country, and each is connected with a major research university.
GRECCs have three main missions:
- To build new knowledge in geriatric care through research.
- To improve health care for older Veterans through the development of innovative clinical models of care.
- To provide training and education on best practices in caring for older adults for students in healthcare disciplines and VA staff.
Each GRECC builds on these concepts to create its own mission.
Current Research Projects
- Alzheimer disease, including identification for biomarkers for drug development.
- Use of telehealth and technology in geriatrics.
- CLC quality and quality improvement.
- Improving multidisciplinary care for aging Veterans with complex needs.
Education Initiatives
- Education and Resources for clinicians and caregivers of Veterans with dementia including an online curated caregiver resources library, videos, and a survival guide.
- Videos and resources to help older Veterans have meaningful conversations with clinicians about "What Matters Most".
- Telehealth education and resources for clinicians working in geriatrics.
- Annual half-day dementia symposia via national webinar
- Training in video telehealth for multi-disciplinary health care trainees
- Development of an online curated dementia caregiver education resource library
- Developing educational resources such as videos and a survival guide for dementia family caregivers, funded by the VA Office of Rural Health
Clinical Innovations
- Implementation of the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative
- Implementation of Patient Priorities Care
- Bedford VA
- Family and Caregiver Telemedicine Clinic: video-into-home dementia management clinic with synchronous participation of multiple family members
- Tele-Neuropsychology Clinic: geriatric neuropsychological evaluation services to rural VA medical centers and community-based outpatient clinics
- ACORN Social Determinants of Health screener – Geriatrics Module in partnership with the VHA Office of Health Equity
Meet the VA Bedford GRECC Team
The New England GRECC is comprised of the VA Bedford and VA Boston Healthcare Systems. The faculty at the VA Bedford site of the New England GRECC is listed below:
Camilla "Cami" Pimentel MPH, PhD
Research Health Scientist
VA Bedford health care
Email: Camilla.Pimentel@va.gov