March 7 , 2000

Baycrest Opens $60 Million ‘Home for the Aged'

On March 7, 2000, Baycrest held opening ceremonies for its new $60-million Apotex Centre, Jewish Home for the Aged and The Louis and Leah Posluns Centre for Stroke and Cognition.

The Apotex Centre includes the 372-bed Jewish Home for the Aged (replacing the existing home that was opened in 1968) and 100 new beds for The Louis and Leah Posluns Centre for Stroke and Cognition.

The seven-storey facility was made possible with $18.9 million from the Province of Ontario and Baycrest's largest ever capital fundraising campaign that raised millions of dollars in private donations for the new building as well as research, rehabilitation programs, education, and community outreach/respite care. Generous contributions came from the Sherman family and Apotex Foundation, and the Posluns Family Foundation.

In keeping with the trend in new geriatric facilities to resemble a more home-like environment, each of the six resident floors is divided into "houses" of 13 or 14 single rooms. Houses have a shared dining room, living room and bathing room. There is a recreation room, a children's play area and three kitchenettes on each floor.

The centrepiece of the new home is a spectacular seven-storey, skylit atrium, complete with a forest canopy of Florida trees, a 335-gallon living reef marine aquarium, water pond, and café. The atrium floor is tiled with imported Jerusalem stone.

The resident floors are designed with way finding in mind and use an abundance of visual cues and landmarks to help residents, many of whom have cognitive impairment, know where they are at all times. Baycrest's direct care staff played a major role in the development of an innovative "model of care" for the new home. The smaller, homelike physical spaces make it easier to have specialized care among resident groupings.

"This project is the result of tremendous community support over many years," says Stephen W. Herbert, Baycrest's President and CEO. "Baycrest is especially grateful for the generous contributions from the Sherman family and Apotex Foundation, the Posluns Family Foundation, and the Ontario Government."

"Apotex is proud to contribute to the building of this world-class facility," says Barry Sherman, Chairman and CEO of Apotex Inc. "Baycrest has a reputation worldwide for the quality of its geriatric care and research programs."?

"As a founding partner of the new home, my family is pleased to support the 100-bed program for seniors who've had a stroke," says Wilfred Posluns on behalf of the Posluns Family Foundation.

Residents are grouped in houses according to their special needs and cared for by teams of highly trained staff. The largest grouping is Alzheimer's cognitive support for residents with Alzheimer's disease. The other groupings are:

physical support for residents who are physically frail but cognitively intact;
mental health support for residents who have long-standing mental health diagnoses;
stroke and cognition support for residents with dementia caused by strokes (The Louis and Leah Posluns Centre for Stroke and Cognition);
behavioral support for residents with challenging behaviors;
and movement disorders support for residents with disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

Through generous donor funding, Baycrest launched the "Portal Project" and invited local artists to design the entrance (known as the portal) to each of the houses. The original designs use various art media, including wrought iron, wood, mosaic tiles, photography, plaster molds and painted murals. These different designs will help residents, many of whom have some form of cognitive dysfunction, find and recognize their entrances and feel more at home.