Capital plans senior citizen communities
Print Edition
BEIJING is planning large communities for senior citizens in nearby cities as part of the capital’s effort to achieve coordinated development in the region.
A 300,000-square-meter pilot community in Gaobeidian, a city in Hebei Province is currently under construction and similar facilities are expected if it proves successful, Li Wanjun, head of Beijing’s civil affairs bureau, said.
The Gaobeidian community, with elderly care and health care services, in addition to accommodation, should meet residents’ daily demands, Li said. “The site boasts picturesque scenery, plus is only a one-hour ride from Beijing.”
He said no new large nursing institutions will be set up in Beijing in the future, adding that even if new ones were allowed, the charges would be sky-high given the cost of land in the capital.
Official data shows that 3 million Beijing residents, about a fifth of its permanent population, were aged 60 or over by 2014.
Li said health authorities are working on a pilot program allowing Beijing citizens to use their medical insurance at a hospital in neighboring Hebei.
However, Liu Wenzhong, a 53-year-old Beijing native, said it was unlikely he and his wife would consider a nursing home outside Beijing after retirement. “Too far. I’m afraid I couldn’t meet my family very often,” he said.
Liu said medical services, living conditions and the environment were his top three priorities for a nursing home. “My top choice would be one in Beijing’s suburbs, such as Miyun and Huairou districts. Those in the downtown are noisy and expensive.”
As an office worker with decent pay at a public institution, Liu does not want to become a burden on his son when he can no longer care for himself. He would not hire a care-giver for his home either, because “we would pay extra attention to oversee her work and may pay more money than staying at a nursing home.”
Liu also longs for the chance to make new friends with similar hobbies at his choice of nursing home.
“Those would make interesting memories in my twilight years,” he said.
Beijing’s move sparked concern that the capital would gradually cast off its duty to care for the elderly.
Li, the civil affairs bureau head, said that starting from this year, emphasis should be placed on refining existing nursing facilities, whose rapid development caused headaches, such as a serious lack of qualified care-givers.
The local government is preparing to open several schools to train care-givers, Li said.
The number of beds in Beijing’s rest homes rose to nearly 120,000 over the past five years. However, occupancy is about 60 percent on average.
Waiting lists are long for facilities with good services, reasonable prices and downtown locations, while some on the outskirts or lacking adequate services see high vacancy rates, Li said.
From 2016 to 2020, hundreds of rest homes in Beijing will be renovated and upgraded, Li said.
Since many residents are unwilling to leave their daily life, Li said the government is establishing small-sized care centers, each with 50 to 100 beds.
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