Summit addresses economic impact
of aging population By KATHY KAHN
“One day,” said Ann Palmer
Moss of the Elant Foundation, “it will be us.” That
is why Elant Inc. and 130 members of the senior
health-care provider community came together May
11 in Tarrytown for what was billed as the first
elder-care summit in the Hudson Valley.
The region has compelling reasons to focus
on the needs of the aging: According to statistics,
there is an unusually high percentage of seniors
living within the seven mid-Hudson counties, with
Westchester leading the way with nearly 190,000
residents above age 60.
The rest of the Hudson Valley’s counties
are in the same predicament, attendees learned,
with a higher ratio of seniors living within their
borders than there should be statistically. Meanwhile
baby boomers are beginning to show their ages and
at the same time, the young professionals needed
to fill their jobs are not in place.
Several speakers, including Steve Maun,
president of Leyland Alliance in Warwick; Dan Sisto,
president of the Healthcare Association of New York
State; Carl Young, president of the New York Association
of Homes and Services for the Aging; and Westchester
County Executive Andrew Spano joined the forum,
which addressed problems of housing needs, health
care and the regional economic impact of the aging
population.
All agreed more needs to be done to meet
the increasing needs of current seniors, as well
as to prepare for the inevitable: the day when we
all face these challenges. How to meet those needs,
and to deal with the current health-care crisis
New York state is beset by, are more hurdles for
business and health care leaders to tackle.
Keynote speaker William “Larry” Minnix
Jr., president and CEO of the American Association
of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) in Washington,
D.C., said, “This (summit) should be happening all
across America. We should start a ‘Hudson Valley
phenomena’ when it comes to better care for our
elders we are all getting there.”
He said his organization’s own research
using concept scenario planning not only looked
at trends but uncertainties as well: “In 2002, the
big uncertainties were technology and finance. In
2006, they are consumer behavior and talent availability
I don’t like to use the word ‘work force’ when
it comes to the talent we need to replace workers.”
The biggest reason for the meeting, said
the AAHSA president, was the dysfunction and the
lack of cooperation between health-care providers.
He hoped the summit would be a turning point, not
just for the hundreds of health-care providers in
the region but for the policymakers, as well.
