We are pleased to share this update from BCCPA service provider member H&H Total Care. The story is sourced from Castanet, and the author is reporter Kate Bouey. See below for a link to a second report.
New Care Home Launched in Vernon
Politicians, health care professionals and contractors officially broke ground at the site of a new residential care home in Vernon — situated in the downtown core.
Work is already well underway. Footings were being poured Friday in one area while in another area, a centre pad was set for elevators.
“The Hamlets at Vernon” is being constructed at 3050 29th Avenue and will be a six-storey building with 85 publicly-funded and 15 private-pay residential complex care beds, as well as 53 private-pay assisted living beds. The main floor will have some retail space.
“It’s very exciting to see progress being made on this new facility,” said Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster. “The expansion of supports for seniors throughout the North Okanagan is a priority and this groundbreaking moves us one step closer to providing additional supports, all in one convenient location.”
Vernon mayor Akbal Mund says the project will help revitalize another area of the downtown. “Any time you can put more people downtown, it’s good for businesses.”
Vernon has an aging population and Foster said the beds are needed.
“Right across the province, as people live longer, care facilities become more in demand,” he said.
While the MLA is hopeful the facility will take some pressure off of Vernon Jubilee Hospital, he said it will only be in the short term. “Eighty-five beds are a lot of beds, but as the need continues, we’ll get ahead of it for a while, there will never be an end to that. There will always be a back-up at the hospital of people who need to transition to another type of care.”
With construction underway at the site, completion and occupancy are expected in mid-2017.
The project has the backing of Interior Health. The care home will be run by H&H Total Care Services Inc., which already has IH contracts to provide residential services at care homes in Kamloops and Penticton.
A second phase in the same block will see the addition of senior’s condos. That phase is still in the planning stages, according to Andre Van Ryk, of H&H Total Care.
Other News
CFJC News reports that Interior Health has announced it has awarded a 48-bed development contract to BCCPA member H&H Total Care Services that will result in an expansion to The Hamlets in Westsyde. Read more and see the video report here.
