Take a tour through the Element Care PACE Center on Market Street in Lynn and you will see how vital the efforts of Mary Anne McGurk and her staff are to their patients and how much those efforts are appreciated.
During our tour, McGuirk was greeted warmly by the many seniors who have entrusted their daily healthcare in her and her staff of healthcare professionals at Element Care.
“I’m so proud of our staff,” McGuirk said pridefully.
McGuirk has been the manager of the Center since 2020. She began her association with Element Care as a social worker at Element Care PACE at the Cummings Center in Beverly. She continued her work in the non-profit healthcare organization at Element Care Nevins in Methuen as an assistant director. She oversaw the Element Care PACE program on Friend Street in Lynn for one year before the Center’s operations were moved to its current site on Market Street.
A graduate of Malden High School (“I was a singer in high school,” she recalled) and Emmanuel College, McGuirk began her career in the healthcare industry in 1981 as a nursing assistant working with older adults. She became an activity assistant and activities director.
At the age of 44 while working in the nursing home industry, McGuirk decided to return to college to pursue a graduate degree in Social Work from Salem State University.
“One of my goals in getting my graduate degree was to be able to expand beyond nursing homes,” said McGuirk. “I always say that [Element Care PACE] is like having all of the same kind of people who would live in the nursing home, but they’re in a community and the team here is so strong. You never have to feel like you’re totally responsible for everything or you’re alone.”