The Archstone Foundation has donated $1 million to UCLA to expand an endowed chair in geriatrics to improve the health care of older people.

The 10-year award by the Long Beach-based nonprofit will expand an Archstone Foundation Endowed Chair now held by Dr. David Reuben, chief of the geriatrics division in the David Geffen School of Medicine.

It will allow Reuben to conduct further research into improving health care for seniors, including fall prevention and care for those with Alzheimer’s disease.

“This enhancement comes at a perfect time to take lessons learned as the Archstone Foundation Endowed Chair and work to extend them to older persons beyond UCLA,” Reuben said in a statement.

In 2008, Reuben helped draft a report by the Institute of Medicine that proposed a three-pronged strategy aimed at serving the health care needs of a growing number of older Americans.

The Archstone Foundation aims to prepare society to meet the needs of an aging population. It was founded 1985 when FHP Inc., a nonprofit HMO, became a for-profit corporation.

Health business reporter Dana Bartholomew can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @_DanaBart.