August 26, 2026

Gloria Brooks: A Catalyst for Better Care

 

OnePoint PACE is proud to have Gloria Brooks serve on our Board of Directors, bringing valuable leadership, perspective and firsthand insight into the evolving needs of PACE organizations and the participants they serve. Their expertise helps guide our continued commitment to delivering pharmacy solutions built specifically for the PACE model.

For more than 30 years, Gloria Brooks has dedicated her career to improving the care and quality of life for children, adults and families.

Her career began in abuse prevention and education before eventually shifting to end-of-life care, where she found meaningful parallels in helping families navigate grief, loss and challenging circumstances.

“We all face the end-of-life”, says Gloria. “What a gift it is to support patients’ families. And now, we live with chronic and serious illness much longer now, expanding the need for comprehensive services. The central question is has become how do we walk alongside people, and help them to live their best life.”

While attending a hospice conference more than 20 years ago, she learned more about the developing PACE model and immediately saw its potential to extend quality care and the positive impact it could make in a community.

At the time, she was serving as CEO of Arbor Hospice in Ann Arbor, Michigan and evaluating whether the organization should launch a PACE or a palliative care program.

Although the organization ultimately pursued palliative care, “PACE made a lot of sense – to be able to keep people at home, even with conditions which need more support” says Gloria.

Gloria remained engaged with PACE, and for years has worked alongside her hospice leader peers on designs to incorporate it into the broader continuum of care.

What continues to draw Gloria to PACE is its ability to meet participants and families where they are long before a chronic or terminal diagnosis is received.

“I see PACE as a natural extension of post-acute care that leads to the need for hospice and palliative care services” says Gloria. “It brings coordinated support earlier in the care journey and creates opportunities for important conversations about chronic and serious illness to naturally occur .”

For Gloria, strong PACE programs are deeply connected to the communities they serve. She believes programs should actively seek input from participants, families and local stakeholders when identifying gaps and planning for the future.

“I believe care should always reflect the community it serves” says Gloria. “Whether a program is in an urban or rural area, it’s important to listen to the community and shape care around its unique needs.”

Additionally, PACE’s dual role as both provider and payer also creates a unique level of responsibility for addressing the complete needs of participants.

“You see great symmetry in recognizing that we’re responsible for the needs of participants in our community. Timely medication delivery, clinical guidance and the ability to balance quality and cost become increasingly important as participant needs grow more complex” says Gloria.

Gloria brings that same perspective to her work with OnePoint PACE. She sees an important opportunity to support mature PACE programs as they care for more participants with serious and terminal illnesses.

Her decision to join the OnePoint PACE Board reflects her desire to help ensure that the voices of national PACE organizations and their communities are always represented.

“OnePoint brings expertise on how to manage quality of life for people with serious and terminal diagnoses and do it well” says Gloria. “I see this role as an opportunity to help shape how PACE services are delivered, while making sure the voices of participants, programs and the communities they serve are part of the conversation.”

Throughout her career, Gloria has been especially proud of serving as a catalyst for change. She is passionate about helping organizations recognize unmet needs, ask better strategic questions and develop leaders who are prepared to listen, adapt and move their organizations forward.

“I love being a catalyst,” says Gloria. “Helping organizations think differently, identify gaps and turn ideas into action. To me, strong leadership means listening, asking the right strategic questions and developing others so the whole organization can continue to grow.”