KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Changes planned for elderly care at the Kansas University Medical Center have some seniors crying foul.

Later this spring, the department of neurology will take over the Landon Center on Aging, which has been devoted to geriatric research and care since it opened less than two years ago. Some clinical programs for seniors will be moved to the KU Med hospital nearby.

“There are broken promises here,” said Bea Bacon, a 79-year-old Olathe resident.

Barbara Atkinson, executive dean for the medical center, said she decided to move the neurology department to the Landon Center, at 3599 Rainbow Blvd., because many of the neurology research projects under way are geared to seniors. That includes research on Parkinson’s disease, stroke, dementia and neuromuscular diseases.

The move is expected around April 1. KU also will begin construction to add office space at the Landon Center this summer.

Atkinson said all geriatric clinical programs would be continued, though some will be offered at the KU Med building at 3901 Rainbow Blvd. Some, such as geriatric urology, already have moved to KU Med.

Atkinson said KU Med had begun offering valet parking to accommodate an increase in older patients. She said the education programs offered at the Landon Center would remain.

But Bacon, an advocate for seniors for 25 years, said KU should be ashamed for abandoning its plans for the Landon Center building.

“Geriatrics is not the pretty part of medicine,” she said. “They call it a marriage of geriatrics and neurology, but it’s not a very good marriage. They’re booting out all the geriatricians and taking over the building.”

¢Landon Center on Aging

The Landon Center was built using $3.9 million in federal grants secured by former U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker. The building is named for her parents, Alfred and Theo Landon.

The rest of the $10 million for the facility came from private donations and university bond funds.

Dennis McCulloch, a spokesman for KU Med, said accusations of broken promises were false.

“You’re still going to have a research focus on the elderly and comprehensive care for seniors,” he said.

¢Landon Center on Aging