Center for Healthy Aging 'like no other c= linic before'

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Center for Healthy Aging 'like no other= clinic=20 before'

By DANA MOSS PULIS
For The Gazette=

The=20 first baby boomers turn 60 this year, and they are defiantly=20 resisting growing old like their predecessors did. This month,= =20 Parade Magazine asked readers to define the "new senior citize= n,"=20 and responses indicated the upcoming retired generation sees a= ging=20 very differently.

The latest project at St. Vincent=20 Healthcare is keenly tuned in to this concept. The Center for= =20 Healthy Aging is midway through construction and on course to = open=20 this fall. The center will be a cutting-edge model of health c= are=20 unlike any found in the area or even nationally, said Mark Wak= ai,=20 vice president of medical practice division at St. Vincent=20 Healthcare.

"There is not a center around that is going= to be=20 like what we are describing. Not in our area," Wakai said. "We= had=20 to look at national resources to solicit their feedback on thi= s=20 plan. We are paving a path."

The center, located on the= =20 corner of Rimrock and Shiloh roads, is a partnership venture o= f St.=20 Vincent Healthcare and St. Johns Lutheran Ministries. The near= ly=20 11,000-square-foot building will house such medical discipline= s as=20 general medicine, physical, occupational and speech therapies,= and=20 geropsychology. An on-site pharmacy from local business Juro's= will=20 provide prescriptions and equipment.=20

What is different, Wakai said, is the inclusion of the=20 emerging aging technologies and the ability to remotely monito= r=20 seniors.

"These technologies are still developing, and = we are=20 trying to stay ahead," he said.

Wakai added that the sc= ope of=20 services will be "not singular-focused but a very broad=20 program."

The number of seniors will be doubling in Mon= tana=20 in the next 25 years, and many will opt to stay in an independ= ent=20 living situation. Remote monitoring allows them to have a=20 technological connection to the center so they can be reminded= of=20 important health issues such as taking medications and the cen= ter's=20 staff can virtually check in on them.

"It gives them th= e=20 ability to remain in the home with some type of technology wit= h=20 advanced oversight," Wakai said. "The center monitors to know = if=20 they are still safe and functional and is alerted to know if=20 something is wrong."

The center will provide services f= or the=20 immediate area and serve as a nerve center and resource for th= e=20 region, Wakai said. St. Vincent Healthcare invested financiall= y in=20 the center, and Sen. Conrad Burns, a senior member of the Sena= te=20 Appropriations Committee, helped secure federal funds for the= =20 center.

"A lot of the credit goes to Sen. Burns," Wakai= said.=20 "We built and presented a plan, and he received it with enthus= iastic=20 support."

St. Johns will contribute its expertise in ca= ring=20 for older populations to the medical center.

Wakai said= the=20 Center for Healthy Aging will be a building "like no other cli= nic=20 before." Though he did not reveal the exact look and concept o= f the=20 building's design, he said it has an open and rounded floor pl= an=20 with unique amenities.

"People will be quite amazed," h= e=20 said. "To look at it you wouldn't say it is a clinic."

= CTA=20 Architects Engineers designed the building, and Fischer Constr= uction=20 is contractor on the project.

Editor's note: = If=20 your business is moving, has a major remodeling or constructio= n=20 project or other significant building project, we would love t= o hear=20 about it. Please send information to: Chris Jorgensen, Billing= s=20 Gazette, 401 N. Broadway, Billings, MT 59102 or cjorgensen@bill= ingsgazette.com.=20

Published on Sunday, March 26, 2006.
Last m= odified=20 on 3/26/2006 at 12:29 am

Current rating:

=20 Not=20 yet rated.
<= NOSCRIPT>=20

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tom wrote on March 26, 2006 10:28 AM:"Thanks, SENATOR BURNS, Billings i= s=20 rivaling major cities for its Medical innovation, now lets get= a=20 Medical College. "

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