The Imperial Ballroom at Halifax’s Lord Nelson Hotelfilled to capacity almost as quickly as a Nova Scotia ER department. The reasonwhy was not much different either: a public roundtable was being held todiscuss how Canada’s health care strategy will accommodate elderly outpatients.

The talk was led by Dr.’s Brian Goldman and KennethRockwood, two Canadian authors who are trusted for their medical expertise. Dr.Brian Goldman is an emergency room veteran and medical journalist, while Dr.Kenneth Rockwood is a noted geriatrician and academic contributor. On March 24the two led a discussion that stressed the need for Canada to beginpreparations for the upcoming ‘silver tsunami’ – a large bump in thedemographic trend comprised of the Baby Boomers.

“We need to operate in a more efficient way,” contended DrRockwood. He explained the need for seniors to receive centralized care inorder to minimize cost to the national economy. Canada must also recruit alarger workforce for comprehensive senior care, including nurse practitioners,family physicians, and geriatricians.

Both doctors cited several issues with the current stateof Canadian health care, including lack of prevention, the drugs-then-dischargesystem, and misaligned responsibilities amongst triage nurses and doctors.These issues cost Canadians millions of dollars every year, as well as the pricelesslives of family members and friends.

Dr. Goldman offered several solutions to help alleviateCanada’s health care issues, most notably the idea of a geriatric emergencydepartment. “A 2010 study found that seniorsoccupy half the stretchers brought by paramedics to the ER,” Dr. Goldman wrotein the blog for his CBC Radio show, WhiteCoat, Black Art. Other alternatives Dr. Goldman offered during theroundtable included care facilities led by nurse practitioners, traveling clinics,and family practices consisting of nurse and physician teams.

As the silver tsunami sweeps in, accommodating olderadults in ER departments is important, but prevention is critical. Dr. Rockwoodreminded attendees that while every older adult has different needs and risks, maintaininga healthy lifestyle is everyone’s key to prevention of illness and disease.