COLUMN: Emphasis on health at Las Ventanas

One of my childhood heroes was Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier. So, I quickly snapped up an opportunity to interview Dr. Roger Landry, former physician to Yeager and other U.S. test pilots and astronauts.

Landry's specialty is population medicine, which has the goal of keeping a group of people healthy through preventive medicine. The groups he's kept healthy include the aforementioned airmen, industrial workers and seniors, or as he prefers to call them, elders.

The retired chief of Aerospace, Occupational and Preventive Medicine for the Air Force was in town as part of the opening of the new sales center at Las Ventanas, a life-care community being built in Summerlin by Greystone Development.

Landry said his relationship with Greystone is based on the emphasis of life care in the communities it builds.

"The belief that the aging process is 70 percent influenced by genetics and 30 percent by lifestyle choices has been turned upside down in recent years," he said. "Life-care communities such as Las Ventanas offer choices that encourage elders to stay active."

Landry said the (John D. and Catherine T.) MacArthur Foundation study of more than 1,000 high-functioning older people determined the importance of socialization in helping seniors stay fit.

"Isolation, depression and boredom are deadly. They eat away at the health of seniors," he said.

Suzanne Calderello, Las Ventanas' senior living counselor, pointed to the involvement of Landry as part of the corporation's emphasis on offering its residents every opportunity to enjoy a healthy and productive lifestyle.

"The focus of Las Ventanas is health," Calderello said, "and while we emphasize health, we understand that people become more fragile as they age. That's why we offer our residents the opportunity to move -- temporarily or permanently -- from their apartments to a skilled nursing center or an assisted-living center."

Calderello said the company ran into a unique situation in Las Vegas.

"In most cities where Greystone decides to build life-care facilities, the bulk of the people buying apartments comes from out-of-towners. Here in Las Vegas there is such a large retired community, that we had to restructure our levels of lifestyle choices."

Calderello said the company decided to offer a more basic plan than it usually does to cater to seniors who already have support opportunities in place, but who want to take advantage of the facilities the community offers.

Those facilities run the gamut from dining to computers. The community will include a performing arts theater, arts studio, beauty salon, billiards and cards rooms, a postal center, fitness club and aquatic center.

The common area is linked to the apartments with climate-controlled walkways.

Parks and gardens are planned for the enjoyment of residents. Parking spaces are provided next to the dwellings as well as near the common areas. Storage lockers will be available for residents with too many memories and not enough space to display them.

I started to get my pen out ... where do I sign up? Then I was turned down because I'm too young. The minimum age for residents is 62. I bet Calderello has me on her list of people to call in three years.

Carmel Hopkins, Real Estate Product Manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

Real Estate home