High Point Center for Care Co-Chairs Enjoy Life at Broadview
Dr. Hyman Miller and Andy Herz are like a tag team. Where one leaves off in the conversation, the other picks up.
Miller and Herz are the co-chairs of the residents’ committee at the High Point Center for Care at Broadview at Purchase College. High Point is an assisted living and memory care center that is part of the university-based retirement community on the campus of Purchase College.
On a recent morning, Herz and Miller sat in a sunny room at High Point to discuss running the community’s residents’ group.
Once a month they meet in a kind of New England style town hall where residents engage in a dialogue about what they want to get out of life at High Point. One thing that was immediately clear is that they want to make the experience as inclusive as possible, engaging residents of all levels of ability.
“We have a tight knit group of people, and we continue to get more individuals, some more disabled than others,’’ said Miller. “Some have memory issues, because of aging or other things, but we try to include them in everything.’’
Herz adds, “There are no quizzes. If people want to be quiet, they can be quiet, or people can talk, like Hyman.’’ They both laughed.
The center is a unique place in part because it is connected to the independent living community at Broadview, which offers a wealth of activities both on the college campus and at Broadview.
Opened in December of 2023, Broadview’s mission is to bring together older adults and college students in an intergenerational experiment. In March, they opened High Point, for those who need memory care or assisted living services.
Broadview has worked to incorporate as much of the intergenerational programming at High Point as possible.
For instance, Herz said they recently worked on a science project with a local Girl Scout troop and received a visit from the children at the nursery school on the Purchase College campus. Residents from independent living community at Broadview also visit often and share their experiences, teaching poetry, art, and lecturing on other topics.
“Most of us have had very active lives prior to this,’’ said Miller, 83, who had a long career as a cardiothoracic surgeon until his retirement two years ago. “Almost all the people here are highly educated individuals in different fields. It’s a pleasure to speak with and learn from them.’’
Miller and Herz say their age has not changed their thirst for knowledge and their desire to contribute to their community.
Herz, 78, a retired commercial real estate lawyer, moved into High Point’s assisted living because of a debilitating neurological disease, but is still very active in Westchester. He’s on the board of White Plains Hospital, the Westchester Division of the New York Community Trust, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, and the Hudson Link for Higher Education, which helps provide an education to incarcerated individuals.
“They’ve given over 500 degrees to formerly incarcerated people,’’ said Herz. “It’s a wonderful group. They have over 70 employees, two-thirds of whom are formerly incarcerated.’’
Miller says that he is very appreciative of the social connections he has made at Broadview and how the intellectual challenge has helped him to be his best self.
Before coming to High Point, Miller was a surgeon in San Diego for 15 years, followed by 28 years at Greenwich Hospital. He then taught vascular surgery at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Manhattan for 14 years.
Both he said Herz credit Joan Juergens and Trevor Ceasar, Life Enrichment Specialists at High Point, for coming up with stimulating activities and outings for residents, whether it’s making apple dumplings or taking a trip to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich.
“As we get older, most of us have lost a mate, so we are really on our own,’’ said Miller. “My daughter said to me one day before I moved here, ‘Dad, if you get your own apartment, what are you going to do? Watch TV? Here you have to be with other people. And it turned out to be exactly right.’’