Business View Magazine
        
        
          
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          gone now. Everything is brand new, other than what we
        
        
          call the Terrace Room, which used to be the gymnasium,
        
        
          and the food services area. So that has all been reno-
        
        
          vated.”
        
        
          Gary Sawatzky, Chinook’s Managing Director, talks about
        
        
          the founders’ all-important business model: “The vision
        
        
          here was to create [a seniors facility]  that would be one
        
        
          that was relatively easy to get into – not low income, but
        
        
          lower pricing compared to the marketplace - so that se-
        
        
          niors would be able to afford to move into Chinook. So
        
        
          Chinook is, for the most part, a life lease type of facility.”
        
        
          A life lease is a legal agreement that permits purchasers
        
        
          to occupy a home for life (or until they are no longer ca-
        
        
          AT A GLANCE
        
        
          WHO:
        
        
          Chinook Village
        
        
          WHAT:
        
        
          A non-profit, retirement community
        
        
          WHERE:
        
        
          Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
        
        
          WEBSITE
        
        
          :