A new 306 bed long-term care home is coming to Lantzville in 2027.
Minister of Health Adrian Dix announced the $286 million dollar project in front of the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Thursday.
“It's a point of faith for all of us, who lived through the COVID-19 pandemic, that we have to make things better in long-term care,” said Dix. “But it's critical to the whole health-care system, to people here who are in the hospital who should be in long term care, people in the community who need long-term care, especially in a population that's both growing and aging, like the one in this region.”
The new building will bring a total of 306 long-term care beds to the region, including a 20-bed hospice unit and a 26-bed specialized population unit. The new care home is designed to have four main buildings, each containing six "households" of single bedrooms with ensuite washrooms. There will also be shared social and recreational spaces, including a dining room, outdoor spaces and lounge areas.
A woman named Bernice, who only gave her first name, has a loved one at the Dufferin Place care home across from the Nanaimo hospital and has worked in a care home herself. She says that the new care home’s individual rooms will be safer for residents during the Covid and flu season.
“It's so important that the residents have their own rooms for personal space along with lowering the risk for viruses, and flus being spread.” she said, adding that care teams also need to have updated equipment.
“I'm thrilled to hear about the new updated facility,” she said. “I feel like it can't happen soon enough.”
The 26-bed specialized unit in the planned long-term care home will support people requiring specialized services, such as young adults or those experiencing challenges related to a traumatic brain injury, mental-health or substance-use issues.
Local MLA Sheila Malcomson says that the new long-term care home will help people stay in the community as they age and stay connected to health-care services.
“It will offer independent living associated with having extended programming support,” she said. “”And the home itself will be a place where our elders and seniors can live in dignity, this is what we want.”
The capital cost of the project is estimated to be $286 million with $171.5 million coming from the province through Island Health, and the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District pitching in $114-million investment. The facility will be owned and operated by Island Health.
Regional Hospital District of Nanaimo board chair Ian Thorpe says that the new facility will help ease the burden on the hospital.
“A shortage of long-term care beds in this region, together with long wait lists, have resulted in the use of acute care beds within the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for people that would be better cared for in specialized facilities dedicated for their long term needs,” he said.
“This long term care home that the government is announcing today is an absolutely critical component in the continuum of care for seniors and our residents. It will ease pressure on hospital services and acute care beds here at NRGH, which we all know is well over capacity.”
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