Seniors' housing in a 'crisis'
Over-60 population expected to triple by 2031; Avens expansion to partially address shortage
Elaine Anselmi
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 19, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When 72-year-old Sandra Taylor broke her leg this summer, she spent five weeks in the hospital waiting for space to become available at Aven Manor.
Sandra Taylor, Yellowknife Seniors' Society president, said housing options for seniors are severely lacking in Yellowknife and across the NWT. - Elaine Anselmi/NNSL photo |
Previously, she waited two and a half years before a private apartment opened in Aven Court.
Avens provides long-term care and independent living space for seniors, and although it is currently expanding, that is expected to only go so far in housing a population expected to triple over the next fifteen years or so.
"Some (seniors) are living in their homes and really shouldn't be living by themselves, but they're doing it because they have nowhere else to go," said Taylor, who is president of Yellowknife Seniors' Society.
For independent housing with Avens, the 50-person waiting list has an average wait time of six to seven years. For long-term care beds, the waiting list is anywhere from two months to eight or nine months.
Due to lack of available space and funding, Avens CEO Jeff Renaud said long wait times are not uncommon.
"We're heading into a crisis - we're in a crisis pretty much, as far as housing options for seniors," said Renaud.
"The city of Yellowknife and across the Northwest Territories, the population of seniors is drastically increasing."
The number of seniors in the territory is expected to double by 2031, said Renaud, and the over-60 population is expected to triple in Yellowknife.
The Mary Murphy Home also offers independent living space for seniors through the Yellowknife Housing Authority, though all 16 rooms are currently full, with a lengthy waiting list, said CEO Bob Bies. The authority also places seniors in other units not designated as 60-plus, Bies said, adding the authority's total waiting list is approximately 180 people.
The $28-million Avens Expansion project will begin to address the shortage but Taylor said, without funding, the project is still far off.
"We definitely need more beds but the problem is that once they're finished blasting, that's it," said Taylor. "There's no more money."
The Yellowknife Community Foundation is the latest to step up with a donation of $50,000 toward the project, which Renaud emphasized is desperately needed.
Currently, Avens has 289 beds dedicated to regular long-term care and 28 beds for dementia care covering the entire territory, said Renaud.
The expansion will replace Avens Manor with 60 beds and add 31 long-term care beds to the campus, but Renaud said the project is also about offering new services on the existing campus.
"The NWT doesn't have a dedicated palliative care program. We're looking at building a standalone, one wing with three beds and room for families to come stay and be with loved ones while they go through the dying process," said Renaud. "We're also looking at adding rehabilitation services, a more in-depth program to help people recover from surgeries, as opposed to staying at the hospital."
Seeing the need for both space and services, Charles Dent, Yellowknife Community Foundation president, said the donation was in line with the foundation's core values.
"It fits in with the mandate of the community foundation to look for projects that are going to benefit the broadest number of people possible in Yellowknife," said Dent. "As the population of the territory ages, certainly we've seen over the years that Avens has always been pushing to try and have enough beds for all of the demand."
The donation was one of the foundation's largest to date - matched only by a donation to the Betty House in 2011. Other donors have come forward, including Yellowknife Chrysler with $12,500, CGI Group with $30,000 and the Union of Northern Workers with a $50,000 donation.
"It's a slow process but we're moving one step at a time and very appreciative of the community foundation for investing in us and our project," said Renaud.
With a long way to go before the full price tag of the expansion is covered, Dent said shedding light on the need to support the project was another goal of the foundation.
"We're hoping this will help kick-start more donors to move this project along," said Dent.
"With how important it is for the population as it ages in the North, we hope this helps Avens along to see it get finalized."
