Some of the most important programs for older adults are also the least famous. The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly is a good example: decades old, quietly effective, and largely unknown to the families who would benefit most.
That obscurity is starting to crack. Early in 2026, the model passed a milestone with the opening of its 200th PACE program, part of a network now serving more than 90,000 older adults across the country.
For San Diego families, the growth is worth understanding, because a model reaching that scale is no longer experimental.
From Demonstration Project to National Network
The concept began as a single community effort and spent years as a small demonstration. The idea was simple and stubborn: keep frail older adults in their communities rather than institutions, by coordinating all their care through one team.
For a long time, growth was slow. The model is complex to launch, and many families and even providers did not understand it.
What changed is the math of aging. As the older population swelled and the cost of institutional care climbed, a program that keeps people home while controlling costs became far more attractive to states and families alike.
Why Scale Changes the Conversation
Reaching hundreds of programs and tens of thousands of participants does more than pad a statistic. It builds a track record.
At small scale, a care model is a promising idea. At national scale, it is a proven system with outcomes that can be measured: fewer hospitalizations, more people staying in their homes, families with a coordinated team instead of a phone tree.
That track record is what should put the model on the radar of San Diego families who have never heard of it. The question is no longer whether it works, but whether it fits a particular person’s situation.
And fit is specific. The model targets adults who need a high level of care but can still live safely at home with support. For the right person, the difference between scattered care and coordinated care is the difference between crisis and stability.
Catching Up to a Model That Already Arrived
The lesson for families is to stop treating coordinated community care as a novelty. It is a mature option that simply suffers from a marketing problem.
If you are caring for an older parent in San Diego, the worth-knowing fact is that this approach exists, that it has served tens of thousands of people, and that the main barrier for most families is awareness rather than availability.
A model can be three decades old and still feel like news to the family that just discovered it. For many San Diego households, that discovery is the most useful thing they will learn this year.
