Chester nursing home will have only 6 more beds than aging facility it's replacing
The foundation of the new long-term care facility in Chester, N.S., is nearly complete, a milestone in a development the community has wanted for nearly two decades.
The new Shoreham Village will replace the aging building next door, which — at 50 years old — is outdated and would have needed significant changes in order to meet modern health and safety standards for the industry.
"The biggest problem with the building is not so much just the infrastructure, it's just the fact that there's shared rooms," said Charbel Daniel, CEO of Shoreham Village and the Northwood Group of Companies, which manages the facility.
"The entire long-term care sector is moving away from the shared-room model to independent rooms, something that we've witnessed through COVID as part of safety reasons to make sure that everyone has their own dignified living space."
While the development is much-needed, it will only add capacity for six additional beds compared to the old facility, which has 90 residents.
There are currently 108 people on the province's waitlist for a long-term care bed in Lunenburg County, which includes Chester.
Barbara Adams, the minister of seniors and long-term care, said that decision was strategic. When the Progressive Conservatives were elected, they reviewed the long-term care needs in the province and launched a nine-year plan to add beds.
New model for size of long-term care homes
She said they determined that the western zone, which includes Lunenburg County, had the biggest gap in need.
"We want to make sure that a medium-sized facility can be in every community, versus a larger one that everybody then has to travel toward," Adams said. "We want everyone to get to that family member as easily as possible."
Adams said the new industry standard is to build wings of 12 beds with a community hub. She said that helps with staffing, dispensing medication and creating short distances for residents to get to meals and recreation.
With that in mind, the province decided to use three models depending on the size of the community where they are being built. Small homes will have 48 beds, medium ones will have 96 and large ones will have 144.
She points out that 14 new facilities will be built in the western zone by 2032. Some, including Villa Acadienne in Meteghan and the Mahone Bay Nursing Home, have already been completed.
"We have our foot on the gas pedal to build these as quickly as possible," said Adams. "So we're just super excited to have this one underway."
The province won't say how much each development costs because Adams said they need to protect the bidding process moving forward.
When it's completed in 2027, the new Shoreham Village will wrap around a pond, taking the shape of a butterfly.
"It's going to be a modern facility, which means a lot of technology will be upgraded, whether it be from the call bell system or the infrastructure that we use to provide care," said Daniel.
He said staffing has never been a significant issue at the site, and the new facility will just be a perk when they do need to bring more people on.
"The care provided doesn't change that much because it's delivered by people," he said. "That passionate care and delivery that's already existing in Shoreham is just going to transition to the new facility and we'll just build on that."
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