Jo Unruh, left, and Tom Carmody perform CPR on a dummy at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 200 Maine, during an August seniors-only CPR class.

To attract retirees, a quality health care system is a must have.

That’s a message Lawrence Memorial Hospital heard loud and clear when it received a copy of a report from Kansas State University last fall.

The report found that health care – along with safety, recreation and housing – was one of the main factors retirees use when looking to relocate.

Even before the report, LMH had been looking at ways to reach out to the aging. More than a quarter of the hospital’s patients are 65 and older.

Four years ago, a hospital task force considered how senior services could be more friendly to Douglas County retirees, said Kathy Clausing, the hospital’s vice president and chief development officer. LMH has also held focus groups with people in their 50s to 70s.

For the most part, Clausing said, the age group was happy with the hospital. But many didn’t know what services were available, such as the hospital’s diabetic education classes, senior CPR training, cardiac rehab and arthritis programs.”Our goal is to be friendly to seniors or folks over 55 and to be able to address their needs and interests,” Clausing said.

Finding geriatricians

It’s tough, however, to find geriatricians, doctors who specialize in senior care and have gone through an extra year of school – or more – to treat them. Nationwide, there are 8,000 geriatricians.

Daniel Swagerty, associate director of Kansas University Medical Center’s Landon Center on Aging, said the need for geriatricians will only grow.

“As baby boomers get into their older years, they are going to want to have physicians that really understand older adults,” he said.

The specialized physicians look beyond diseases, Swagerty said, to the patient’s quality of life or end of life care. Generally, those over 65 are candidates to see geriatricians, but they make the most impact for those over 75 or 85.

Geriatricians are in short supply, Swagerty said, because it is a lower-paid specialty. Because most of their clients are seniors, the doctors are reimbursed through Medicare, which has lower reimbursement rates than other insurers.

“We really won’t have enough geriatricians unless there is a radical change in how medical education is funded and physicians are paid,” Swagerty said.

Medical students with rising student loans have little incentive to stay in school for one more year for a field that is likely to pay less than a family physician, which requires less schooling.

Clausing said there is an interest in bringing geriatricians to Douglas County, but Lawrence does have internal medicine doctors who specialize in seniors.

Making changes

John Glassman, executive director of Douglas County Senior Services, said the need is growing for adult day care, a service that can sometimes be substituted for home health care or put off stays in nursing homes.

“I think you are going to see a lot of pressure on the health care system and on a lot of us to find alternative ways to deliver health care,” Glassman said.

For example, LMH has been offering wellness programs, a kind of preventive medicine, and classes for nutrition and stopping smoking.

The aging population has not only changed hospital services, but also construction. Doors have handles easier to open for those with arthritis. Cabinets are lower. Private patient rooms are also a must-have for baby boomers.

“We have to change how we have done business or how we have taken care of people,” Clausing said. “Baby boomers are much more demanding.”

Even the doctor-patient relationship could change. Swagerty said. Physicians may opt to keep their patient base to a limited number, such as 300, for an estimated $3,000 a year. In return, they provide far more devoted attention to patients. Some physicians even come along with patients to see specialists.

To cut costs, Swagerty said some younger doctors are doing away with offices and returning to the old-fashioned house calls or visits to independent living facilities.

The interactions between doctors and patients are also changing. Older generations are more willing to go to their doctors, take medication and follow their physical therapy, Clausing said. Baby boomers have more questions.

“It makes it a little bit more challenging for the physician,” Clausing said, “but I think the end result is better for all.”