SUDBURY, ON – Research into healthy aging at Health Sciences North Research Institute (HSNRI) got a boost today, thanks to the HSN Volunteer Association. The Association announced a commitment to an addition $300,000 over the next two years to the Chair in Health Aging and continue research to prevent and reduce frailty for seniors admitted to hospital. Dr. McElhaney is the holder of the Health Science North Volunteer Association Chair in Healthy Aging. To date, the HSN VA has pledged a total of $750,000 to Dr. McElhaney’s groundbreaking research into seniors’ health for the past five years.
The HSN VA is excited to announce its continued support for the position of Chair in Health Aging. A cheque was presented to Dr. Janet McElhaney for $300,000 to continue her research and working with seniors admitted to hospital at Health Sciences North (HSN). “Each and every time someone supports the lotto booth, the gift shop or the Café at Sudbury Outpatient Centre run by our dedicated volunteers, you are supporting our initiatives which include funding the Chair in Health Aging. We want to express our sincere delight in our affiliation with Dr. McElhaney”, says Adam Haight, President of HSN VA.
Dr. McElhaney is a leading scientist on the benefits of the flu vaccine, and has pioneered the “48/5” intervention to assist hospitalized seniors She also collaborates with Indigenous communities regarding health issues facing older Indigenous adults in Northern Ontario. These are just a few of her current research projects. Thanks to the ongoing support of the HSN VA, Dr. Janet McElhaney, Vice President of Research & Scientific Director of HSNRI, is able to continue this important research for another two years. “The support of HNS VA provides an opportunity to continue to find real solutions for our seniors and contribute to a healthier north”, says Dr. McElhaney.
Since Dr. McElhaney relocated her practice to the North, she has helped seniors in the community and HSN, and has played a vital role in enhancing the life of older adults. “Dr. McElhaney and her team assisted my mother during her hospital stay. Once the initial geriatric assessment was completed, my mother and our family were provided a treatment plan. We all had a greater understanding of the steps to recovery. Geriatric specialists in the community are vitally important to our seniors’ health and their long term care planning”, says Brenda Merrick, Patient and Family Advisor at HSN.
The support from HSNVA allows for world class leading research in seniors health to be done here in the north by the north. “The research being led by Dr. McElhaney is impacting the entire health care community. She is changing how health care is designed and delivered globally”, says Dr. Roy, President and CEO of HSN and CEO of HSNRI.
Thanks to the commitment of HSN VA to the position of Chair in Healthy Aging we are able to retain and attract leading talent to the north and collaborate with other northern institutions. Dr. McElhaney is a professor at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and continues to collaborate with a number of northern communities and institutions.
