Health System Planning Several Campuses Throughout Region

Tanner Health System is preparing to expand its long line of community-based services to meet another area of burgeoning need in the region: senior living.

The health system is exploring partnerships with established senior care organizations in the region and other organizations that specialize in senior living services with plans to construct three senior living campuses, to be located in communities Tanner currently serves.

The expansion marks the health system’s first foray into senior living. Each campus will make use of a hybrid concept, running the gamut of services from independent living to assisted living and memory care.

Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner, citing reports earlier this fall from the United States Census Bureau, noted that by 2030 the number of Americans age 65 and older will surpass the number of children in the country for the first time, marking a huge demographic shift and indicating an emerging need for specialized senior living accommodations.

“Georgia’s State Plan on Aging cites three top concerns for older Georgians: transportation, health care and housing,” said Howard. “By expanding services to the region’s growing senior population, we’re positioned to help fill at least two of those critical needs.”

According to the Census Bureau, the number of Americans age 65 and older will reach 78 million by 2035 — compared to 76.7 million Americans who will be younger than 18. About 13 percent of Tanner’s service area are currently aged 65 or older.

“An ever-growing number of our neighbors face the obligation of caring for aging parents,” said Howard. “And an ever-growing number of our neighbors need the assurance that resources will be available close by as they age and their needs emerge. These senior living campuses will provide a solution, peace of mind and an active lifestyle that our neighbors expect.”

Howard said Tanner’s senior living campuses will feature wellness services, educational activities and an integrated approach to health care, along with amenities that are in line with the expectations of today’s active, aging population.

Tanner has established a solid reputation for its leading-edge clinical programs — including heart care, cancer care, women’s health services, behavioral health care, surgical care and others — as well as for its bright and airy facilities and comfortably-appointed spaces designed to enhance the comfort for patients and visitors.

The health system intends to take that same successful approach as it develops its hybrid senior housing campuses.

“I hope people have come to expect a lot of us,” said Howard. “We’ve developed programs and earned accreditations to help our neighbors feel confident when they choose Tanner for a host of services, and we’re going to instill that same level of confidence in this new venture. We’re building something new that this region needs and is going to need even more in the future.”

More information on the health system is available online at tanner.org.