2021-06-09

Nursing homes in Lunenburg, Queens counties secure $1.14 million in upgrades

Bridgewater's Hillside Pines Home for Special Care is receiving $1.14 million to help cover the cost of adding a third dining room and a fire safety upgrade as part of an $11.4 million national and provincial government spending spree to refresh several healthcare and long-term care facilities.

The 50-bed Exhibition Drive nursing home received $586,500 to expand the building footprint and construct a new dining area on the north east end. The home wants to accommodate more residents while adhering to physical distancing.

Marisa Eisner said it is not an expansion to one dining room. The facility currently has two and, thanks to the institution's successful funding application, this means there will be another added to the mix..

"This new addition is going to give us another 950 square feet," the facility's administrator, Marisa Eisner, told LighthouseNOW when reached by phone. "We'll have three [dining rooms] for 50 people instead of two."

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for extra space, Eisner said. Hillside Pines opened in the early 1980s, at a time when residents' mobility equipment, such as wheelchairs, were different, she said, and a room can seem small in a mealtime setting.

Keeping staff and residents cohorted in the name of consistency and safety – along with other precautions – has been ongoing.

Provincial and federal governments announced the new subsidies on May 27. Hillside Pines secured funding for two projects.

The home's aging sprinkler piping system, which dates back to the facility's opening, is being replaced. While the current system is fully functional and operating normally, work to establish a new one is expected to start in the coming weeks.

Government allotted $552,000 toward this project. Eisner said no residents will be temporarily displaced and re-located as a result. "Our system is in the attic, so it won't impact anybody's day-to-day life here," she said.

"It's a safety priority."

Meanwhile, Chester's Shoreham Village received $600,000 to upgrade below-surface sanitary wastewater systems and a wastewater main pipe. This work at the 90-bed nursing home is also expected to start in the weeks ahead to ensure uninterrupted services and sanitation of the facility's private water supply. The home's chief administrator, Janet Simm, said it will take months to finish the project.

"These are cast iron pipes," Janet Simm, the home's chief administrator, explained to LighthouseNOW during a phone call.

The job includes application of an adhesive solution.

"Shoreham was built in 1975, so we've seen some corrosion and we want to make sure the parts of the building that will be renovated will have this solution."

Earlier this year, the province announced Shoreham Village would be either be replaced or renovated as part of the province's long-term plan for some long-term care facilities. Simm confirmed to LighthouseNOW it will be a renovation that will include new wings to accommodate five more beds.

Government said it won't be until 2024-25 until the first renovation or construction project finishes.

"We're still early on in the process ... we're working with the architect, we're finalizing our plans and soon we'll move into the costing phase, so hopefully the cost will be affordable," Simm said.

"Even if we weren't going to be renovated, this [piping work] would be a project we'd be moving forward with."

If repairs require residents to be out of their rooms, Simm said they'll be accommodated in other parts of the building.

Both Shoreham and Hillside have fewer private rooms than shared. A lack of single occupancy rooms proved problematic in other facilities when it came to quelling the spread of COVID-19.

Simm said the renovation will address some of that at Shoreham, but Eisner said Hillside would require partnering with the Department of Health and Wellness on major capital work.

Nursing homes have enhanced infection control measures and upped cleaning and disinfecting measures since the pandemic started.

One other nursing home in Lunenburg County secured provincial and federal dollars as part of the May announcement.

The Rosedale Home for Special Care in New Germany received just under $60,000 to replace the facility's "communication system [and] the sit/stand lift and the Alenti Tub Chair. This will increase safety and security for residents," reads Ottawa's backgrounder on the project.

A pair of Queens County facilities also received a cash influx.

Greenfield's Hillsview Acres garnered $105,000 toward "installation of commercial heat pumps in four residential wings, the dining area and the activity room," notes the background document posted online. "This will allow for better airflow and create a comfortable environment for residents and staff year round."

The North Queens Nursing Home in Caledonia will see the "replacement of all handrails within the facility to increase cleanliness and safety for residents and staff" thanks to $23,000 in government spending.