WATERLOO - The University of Waterloo and three funding partners announced yesterday the appointment of a leading specialist in geriatric medicine to a new research chair that will usher in enhanced health care for seniors in the local area and eventually across Canada.

Waterloo, together with philanthropist Ronald Schlegel, the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, introduced Dr. George Heckman, who specializes in aging and cardiovascular disease, as the Schlegel Research Chair in Geriatric Medicine. The $1-million research chair will produce research that will improve the delivery of health care to seniors in Waterloo Region and Wellington County.

Heckman, currently an assistant professor of medicine at McMaster University, specializes in chronic disease management in community, residential and long-term care settings. He joins Waterloo as an assistant professor in the department of health studies and gerontology, where he will collaborate with established experts in aging, health, and well-being. He also plans to maintain ties with researchers from McMaster, with opportunities to strengthen links between McMaster's expertise in chronic disease management and Waterloo's initiatives in illness prevention and health promotion for older adults.

"As the Schlegel Chair, my focus will be on conducting research that will benefit frail seniors," said Heckman. "Frailty and chronic diseases can be managed in a proactive way, with the primary goal being to keep seniors as functional as possible wherever they choose to live, reduce the need for ER visits and hospitalization, and ultimately to reduce the pressures on long-term care. We hope the work will serve as an example for other communities."

The new research chair will collaborate with the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network in order to develop an integrated model of health care for seniors. The work will cover an inventory of current services to identify barriers and potential solutions for their integration, along with developing a list of senior-focused health initiatives.

"In Dr. Heckman's role as geriatric lead for Waterloo Wellington, he will provide leadership to coordinate services and programs for our senior population," said Sandra Hanmer, chief executive officer, Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network. "He will work with geriatricians, family physicians and other community providers to develop and implement a plan that will address health care needs for seniors and their families."

The collaboration will also allow for ongoing evaluation of services as they are being delivered to seniors. Findings and innovative practices emerging from the research will be widely distributed for other jurisdictions to learn from experiences and successes in Waterloo Region and Wellington County.

"Not only will Dr. Heckman's knowledge and expertise improve outcomes in elderly care. This integrated health care approach will also provide valuable learning opportunities for nurses, ancillary health care workers, medical students and the residents," said Dr. Ashok Sharma, chief of staff for Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital, in welcoming him to the joint medical staff.

The new chair is one of five Schlegel Research Chairs in Aging, first announced in May 2008. Four of the research chairs on aging will be based at the University of Waterloo and a program chair for enhanced seniors' care is located at Conestoga College. One of the chairs at Waterloo has been filled by Dr. Safa Elgamal, a physician from Egypt, who explores the impact of physical activity in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease in the early stages.

Major funding for the chairs comes from a $4-million donation by Schlegel, president of Winston Park and Oakwood Retirement Communities. The money is on top of his initial $2-million donation to help found the Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging.

"I am pleased to provide funding to promote research in geriatric medicine that will improve the quality of life and quality of care for our seniors," said Schlegel, a former professor at Waterloo. "We need to stop treating chronic disease and conditions as if they occur in isolation and instead take a more comprehensive treatment approach to medical care in later life. We are especially pleased to hire Dr. Heckman, a leader in geriatric medicine."