SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
With demand for seniors housing only on the rise, Avens community for seniors has a new CEO, one who hopes his long career with provincial and territorial health departments will give the organization the advantage it needs to grow.

Avens seniors community welcomed its new CEO Stephen Jackson Sept. 18. One of his top priorities is addressing a shortage of housing for seniors in the NWT. - James Goldie/NNSL photo

Stephen Jackson first arrived in Yellowknife in 2001. After several years working with the Ontario Ministry of Health on projects such as determining how many long-term care beds were needed to address the needs of seniors in that province, he was presented the opportunity to come and work for the GNWT's Department of Health and Social Services in a middle management position. His job involved strategic and business planning, program management and being a liaison between the department and the Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation.

However, it was interacting with volunteers and long-term care patients that he found most rewarding.

"When you walk down the hallway of a hospital or a long-term care facility like Avens, you're reminded on a daily basis of why you have a job," he said.

Jackson said his top priority as the new Avens CEO will be addressing the lack of beds or homes for seniors in the NWT. Currently there are 12 people waiting for spaces to open up in Avens' facilities for people who have dementia, require nursing services or personal care. Those seeking independent housing (there are currently 55 on the waitlist at Avens) may expect to wait six years.

Jackson said that many of these seniors waiting for a home to open up at Avens are likely living in accommodations with stairs that are difficult for them to use and can result in falls and related injuries.

"Falls . are the number one reason for hospitalization for people in Canada over the age of 65. You can eliminate stairs from someone's residential environment and have barrier-free entrance, no thresholds at the door, and you create a safer environment," said Jackson.

According to Jackson, investing in more housing for seniors can save the GNWT money in the long-term.

"Sometimes it just takes one or two steps in wintertime and having them slip and then those individuals end up in the more acute part of our system, the far more expensive part of our system."

Jackson said one of the advantages he brings to the table is his pre-existing knowledge of the GNWT capital planning process, which means he already knows the necessary steps to developing planning studies and knows how to move such documents through the various approval levels.

However, Jackson emphasized that it is not only the GNWT that Avens needs to work with to address the senior housing and beds shortage in the territory.

"There's a variety of levels of governments which have a role in potential solutions and we definitely want to start those discussions again once the elections are finished," he said.

Avens has already begun preparing the site of what will eventually be its next facility, although just how many beds it will hold remains to be determined. That will depend on discussions with the Department of Health and Social services, said Jackson.

"We're flexible. We're very fiscally aware of the government of the Northwest Territories financial position, which is why we've recommended a phased approach," he said, comparing the slower process to putting additions on a house.

In the meantime, Jackson has already started work on his personal goal for the next year: learning the names of all 105 Avens staff members.

"It's important that you care enough to learn people's names," he said.

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