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Editorial: Old hospital gets new life

The Issue: Aging population

We Say: Respect our elders

Canada will soon be known as the Great White North not for the snow but for the amount of grey hair seen on its
residents.

The population as a whole is aging as Baby Boomers turn into senior citizens at an increasing rate. It's well known this will place a huge strain on the already taxed public health system across the country, including the NWT.

The North's situation is actually more acute, as studies show the territory has lower health levels and higher rates of mental health problems when compared to the rest of the country.

There are also lower literacy levels, which can place more stress on health professionals attempting to diagnose
and treat some people. The NWT is on track to see a more than 80 per cent upswing in the number of residents ages 60 and over by 2035, stated a recent NWT Bureau of Statistics study.

In 2014, another report pegged the population of Yellowknife at 19,752, with 1,678 people 60 years of age or older.
As anyone who has lived here for a while will tell you, many of that roughly 11 per cent of folks who decide to spend their golden years here are doing so out of necessity, not desire.

An aging population across Canada will put a strain on health-care services. This situation is especially acute in the North. There are a number of studies, reports and recommendations out there, with two key ones – Our Elders: Our Communities, and Continuing Care Services Action Plan – guiding the GNWT. Image courtesy of GNWT.

Bottom line: if you have money, you likely aren't spending all of your retirement years in the 'Knife. The weather
is just too tough and the recreation and health needs for seniors can be better served down south.

People with means can also access private health care for such quality of life procedures as joint replacements in western Canada and the United States. In the NWT, the wait before you can even be evaluated for possible surgery takes months.

So Yellowknifer supports plans to convert the original three-storey Stanton Territorial Hospital building into a centre for extended and long-term care.

While some of those beds won't be occupied by seniors, it will offer some solace to an aging population who either wants to, of has to, remain in the North. As reported in Yellowknifer this week ("Tenants of old hospital building
unveiled," Jan. 17), an 18-bed extended care unit, outpatient rehabilitation services and food and laundry
services will be located on the first floor of the original building, while the second and third floors will be home
to 72 long-term care beds. A tenant is expected to be chosen for the remaining 1,100 square metres of the 12,082-square-metre building by March.

In 2015, the GNWT revealed a new hospital would be constructed beside the current one at a cost of $300 million.
The government signed a lease agreement with Ventura Stanton Inc. to redevelop and manage the original building for a 30-year period.

Ventura has taken on all the risk associated with remediating and retrofitting the existing hospital to make it tenant-ready. With this project, along with other long-term care facilities announced in the South Slave and the Beaufort Delta, the GNWT is showing it is heeding calls to take a proactive approach in preparing for the greying future.

The GNWT's five-year 2017 Continuing Care Action Plan aims to enhance palliative care services, boost accessibility to quality long-term care and increase support for caregivers. It is not easy getting old. But the
GNWT must continue to show people entering their golden years they can stay here without fear of poor health
services.

It is another chance to show the NWT is indeed a welcoming place for all.