Photo caption: Members of Southlake Health’s Senior Care Steering Committee and ACE Unit team.
Two years after Southlake Health launched its Senior Care Strategy, the hospital is seeing real impact for patients in some of the fastest growing and aging communities in Ontario. The strategy is built on four pillars that provide a roadmap for transforming how older adults are supported:
- Developing clinical excellence by standardizing best practices for older adults.
- Optimizing clinical competency by building staff and physician expertise.
- Enhancing communication and collaboration between patients, caregivers, and providers.
- Strengthening and expanding partnerships with municipalities and community organizations to support seniors where they live.
Practical steps have quickly made a difference. Education on geriatric-friendly care for personal support workers, engagement kits and communication tools like pocket talkers, and a hospital-wide focus on delirium prevention have enhanced staff knowledge and improved patient outcomes. Southlake’s Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) Unit is also a key part of the strategy’s success. In its first year, the unit helped more than 750 patients, with an average age of 85 years old:
- 95% of patients maintained or improved function.
- 87% returned to their home in the community.
- For patients over 70 years old, the average hospital stay was shorter by more than two days compared to other units.
“We know that older adults have unique needs, and we’ve proven that by doing things differently we can make a real difference,” said Jennie Popplow, Director, Senior’s Care Program at Southlake Health. “Now, we’re taking those lessons and building toward a broader vision of senior care, one that extends beyond hospital walls.”
Expanding Care Into the Community
Southlake’s Aging Well program brings specialized geriatric services into the community through the Aging Well Clinic, the Urgent Geriatric Clinic, and the Geriatric Outreach Team, along with specialized consults for non-malignant palliative care and movement disorders. Together, these services ensure older adults and their care partners have access to timely, coordinated support.
“The Aging Well Clinic is about meeting individuals and their care partners where they are, focusing on what matters most to them, and giving them the tools and supports they need,” said Devon Curran, Manager of Ambulatory Services at Southlake Health. “Our focus extends beyond treating illness and functional decline. It’s about helping older adults age in place for as long as possible.”
In 2024, Aging Well supported more than 3,100 patient visits across northern York Region and southern Simcoe County. This included over 850 visits from patients in Aurora and 525 from patients in Georgina, reflecting both high demand and wide reach from both ends of Southlake’s catchment area.
Through Aging Well, patients receive individualized assessments from an interdisciplinary team including geriatricians, nurse practitioners, social workers, occupational therapists, and registered nurses. The team works closely with patients, families, and primary care providers to create tailored recommendations and links to community supports. These services help older adults manage cognitive or physical decline, prepare for illness progression, and maintain independence.
“Caring for older adults requires a holistic approach that looks beyond the diagnosis,” said Dr. Youmna Ahmed, a geriatrician at Southlake Health. “We work as a team at Southlake to help patients maintain independence, prevent decline, and recover in ways that support their dignity and quality of life in the community. This is the heart of senior care.”
Looking Ahead
Although seniors aged 65 and older account for only about 20 per cent of Southlake’s emergency visits, they make up more than half of all admissions. Those numbers are expected to climb as more residents age. York Region’s older adult population is expected to grow by nearly 50 per cent by 2030 and more than 80 per cent by 2040. The average hospital stay for a senior is also significantly longer than for younger patients, reflecting the complexity of care required.
“We need to be ready,” said Popplow. “This isn’t just about managing more patients. It’s about reshaping care so older adults can age well, age vibrantly, and return to the community with the right supports in place.”
Southlake’s vision for senior care is tightly aligned with its broader Strategy for the Decade Ahead to transform care in northern York Region and southern Simcoe County by building a Distributed Health Network that provides leading edge care, closer to home.
With a strong Senior Care Strategy, Southlake is helping seniors maintain dignity and independence, providing them with more opportunities to receive support in their communities, keeping healthy and reducing the need for long hospital stays. Southlake is building the future of senior care — one that benefits us all.