Hartford Business Journal

12 Hartford Business Journal • July 27, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com Graying CT creates business opportunities for diverse industries By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com T hey make nutritious home-delivered meals, residences more navigable and bodies more agile. They offer home care and companionship and legal and financial services. They're among the diverse businesses and professionals serving and benefitting from Connecticut's growing popula- tion of people 65 and over with products and services that seniors want or need as they live longer, defy their age and seek to retain their independence. It's more than hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and nursing homes benefiting from the growing wave of seniors — but those are some of the obvious beneficiaries. "Well beyond the industries that stand to benefit, the entrepreneurs who are keeping their eyes open and are ready to identify these niches, that's really where it's exciting," said Maureen McIntyre, executive director of the North Central Area Agency on Aging in Hartford. Less obvious beneficiaries, perhaps, are nonprofit agen- cies, a potential significant recipient of retiring Baby Boom- ers looking to give back with expertise cultivated in the cor- porate world or looking to learn new skills, McIntyre said. "This is an age group that is very civic minded," she said. Meal business hits the spot Paul Finney is among the Connecticut entrepreneurs feeding the needs of the state's seniors — literally. He's the owner of October Kitchen, a Manchester business that makes healthy meals delivered to customers' homes. A chef, he started the business 15 years ago, and it's flourished. He's looking at expanding his physical location, delivery area and menu and envisions coast-to-coast expansion. October Kitchen delivers to about 200 customers but has more than 2,000 in its database. Some are busy moms or working professionals, but Finney estimates two-thirds of all his customers are seniors. "Here, the way that we cook, we use less salt, less fat and sugar, and our whole point is to keep our customers alive and healthy for as long as we possibly can," Finney said. "I Knee, hip surgery business flourishes amid aging population By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com O lder residents are determined, more than ever, not to let age slow them down. To see the impact that's having look no further than doctors who do hip and knee replacements: They're busy, very busy. "You can think of them as growth opportunities or you can think of them as providing health care for folks in need, but you can sort of summarize the whole discussion in two words or one hyphenated word, which is 'Baby Boomers,' " said Dr. Courtland Lewis, an orthopedic surgeon who is physician- in-chief of the Hartford Healthcare Bone & Joint Institute at Hartford Hospital. First, the number of people in their 50s and 60s and soon their 60s and 70s is a large demographic, he said. "In addition, Baby Boomers, maybe unlike the generation or two generations before them, are not super interested in cutting back on their activity levels and just cruising," Lewis said. "And so maintaining an active quality of life is important to them." Nationally, more than 1 million hip and knee replacements occur each year, he said. By 2030, it's expected the total number will exceed 2.5 million. The number of surgeries is rising 10 to 15 percent a year in parts of the country, he said. In Connecticut, there were 13,116 total joints, hips and knees replaced in all hospitals in the year ended Sept. 30, 2013, Lewis said. For the year ended Sept. 30, 2015, the projection is 14,090, a 7.4 percent increase over two years. That's less of an increase than what's occurring nation- ally but still significant, he said. Partly as a response to the growing orthopedic business among seniors, a new orthopedic specialty hospital is under construction on the Hartford Hospital campus, the first of its kind in New England in about 40 or 50 years, Lewis said. The move follows the opening of a new tower several years ago at St. Francis Hospital, which includes a large joint-replacement practice, Lewis said. "So right here in Hartford, we're responding to the pro- jected needs moving forward," he said. "We're going to have a lot of patients to take care of, and we need the facilities to do that, and so there's been a substantial investment both at Hartford and at St. Francis over the past five years toward addressing the exact issue that we're talking about." Hip and knee surgery is second only to cataract surgery as measured by impact on one's quality of life, with a 90 to 95 percent likelihood of a good or excellent result from the surgeries, Lewis said. But there's a dilemma: There is a projected shortfall in orthopedic surgeons to care for millions seeking the treat- ment, he said, adding that it's a topic getting a lot of focus nationally. n Dr. Courtland Lewis, physician-in- chief, Hartford Healthcare Bone & Joint Institute, Hartford Hospital UNAMI SILVER S Connecticut's Kelly Boscarino of Chapter 126 Sports and Fitness in Bristol helps people with disabilities and seniors stay active and healthy. The gym sees major growth opportunities catering to an aging population. It offers specialized equipment like workout machines that adjust to people in wheelchairs. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D

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