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No intention of retiring soon

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN At the age of 76, Dr. Ricardo de la Riva has no intention of retiring any time soon. The well-known Sudbury family doctor suffers from the chronic aches and pains typical of people his age.
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Dr. Ricardo de la Riva examines Vigna Armando. At age 76, de la Riva still works half days. Many professionals such as doctors and lawyers work past the age of 65. Aging baby boomers are expected to work longer than their parents did.

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

At the age of 76, Dr. Ricardo de la Riva has no intention of retiring any time soon.


The well-known Sudbury family doctor suffers from the chronic aches and pains typical of people his age. He had a heart attack seven years ago and underwent bypass surgery.

But he still works half-days at his Flour Mill area practice. What keeps him going? The love he has for his patients.
"When you enjoy something in life, you don't get tired as much. It's a beautiful profession to be a doctor. Beautiful.

You can help people."

Dr. John Jones, 82, above with his wife Gina, says he'll only hang up his stethoscope if his health deteriorates.  Perhaps in the future more doctors will continue working into their golden years.

According to Statistics Canada, baby boomers are healthy and expected to work longer than previous generations.


Canadian doctors are already getting older. In 2001, the proportion of general practitioners over the age of 55 was 21.4 percent, up from 18 percent in 1991.

De la Riva has noticed a few more grey hairs among his colleagues lately. Most doctors who attend Sudbury & District Medical Society meetings are in their 40s and 50s, not their 30s, he says.

As a child growing up in Spain, de la Riva dreamed of becoming a doctor like his father and uncle. He graduated from medical school in 1954 and came to Canada a few years later.

He met his future wife while working at the Ottawa General Hospital. She was a nurse. They married in 1960, and came to Sudbury in 1963. The couple raised five children here.

A passionate advocate for the Flour Mill area, de la Riva served on city council from 1972 to 2000. He ran for the first time after noticing his neighbourhood was neglected by the city.

He was forced to give up municipal politics after his heart attack, but couldn't bear to stop practising medicine. He's been treating most of his patients for years, and knows the intricacies of their illnesses.

They appreciate that he takes care of them even though he's getting old and sick himself.

"I think I have a better rapport with my patients because they know I am sick. They say 'Oh, he sacrifices for me and he wants to see me'."

De la Riva's colleague, Dr. John Jones, 82, says he'll only hang up his stethoscope if his health deteriorates.

He became extremely bored after shutting down his private practice in 1999, and started working half days at a local walk-in clinic.

"I didn't last long (with retirement)," he says. "I don't play golf and I don't go fishing. Just to suddenly do nothing and to have nothing to think about, it rotted my mind. I had to find something to do, so I went to the clinic."

Jones thinks it's natural for doctors to keep working as long as they're reasonably healthy and happy.

"If everybody starts retiring when they're around 60, it will be a disaster. I don't think many doctors want to, because they can still earn money without being a menace to society."

Jones was born in Wales, and graduated from medical school in 1947. He immigrated to Canada in 1953, and came to work at the Copper Cliff Hospital. He opened his own medical practice in Copper Cliff after the facility closed.

His future wife, Gina, worked as a nurse at the hospital. They were married in 1959, and had one son.

Gina, 83, likes the fact that her husband still works. It keeps him happy and out of the house, she says.


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