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New long-term care options for seniors opens in Cranbrook
Seniors in the Cranbrook area now have expanded access to long-term care with the opening of 36 new long-term care units at Golden Life Management’s Kootenay Street Village.
The first residents began moving into their new homes this week. There are 30 publicly funded long-term care units through Interior Health, and six private, flexible-care units. Kootenay Street Village is a partnership between Golden Life Management, Interior Health, and Columbia Basin Trust.
“Today’s announcement showcases our excellent teamwork with Interior Health and Golden Life Management in working together to help open up new spaces for long-term care for seniors in the Cranbrook community and area,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix. “It is our goal and purpose to help make the transition to long-term care accessible and comfortable for seniors and their families who are taking the next step in the journey of their lives.”
“Interior Health is committed to expanding care options for seniors,” said Doug Cochrane, Interior Health Board Chair. “This important project will provide a safe, comfortable and home-like environment for people to live with dignity and will provide seniors in the area with more housing options to better meet their needs.”
Improving access to long-term care is part of the B.C. government’s commitment to strengthen the supports available to seniors. Government is investing approximately $1 billion over three years to improve care for seniors, including investments in primary care, home health, long-term care and assisted living. This also includes $240 million over three years to increase staffing levels in long-term care homes, with the goal of achieving 3.36 direct care hours per resident day – on average – across all health authorities by the end of 2020/21.
“I’m very happy to see residents in the Cranbrook area benefit from this new facility,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister responsible for Columbia Basin Trust. “I am also very proud of the work that the Trust is doing to support communities in the Basin. These are important steps to make sure people entering long-term care have excellent amenities and can enjoy home-like settings and fun activities like going to the pub or bistro, while staying safe in care.”
Kootenay Street Village is built and operated by Golden Life Management, a family-based provider of holistic seniors’ Villages from Cranbrook. The project will have two additional phases: Phase 2 will include 61 independent living suites, and is scheduled to open in spring 2020; Phase 3 will be announced by Golden Life Management soon.
A minimum of 20 of the independent living suites will be subsidized for seniors with low incomes, thanks to the partnership with Columbia Basin Trust.
“The Trust’s priority is to help ensure residents have access to housing that meets their needs,” said Johnny Strilaeff, Columbia Basin Trust President and CEO. “We are excited to be part of this Village as an investor and through supporting subsidized housing for low-income seniors.”
“Our goal is to have Kootenay Street Village become a wellness hub for seniors’ health,” said Celeste Mullin, Vice President of Golden Life Management. “We focused on aligning our care and hospitality services with the needs of the greater community to support seniors both within and outside our Village walls.”
“Creative design elements such as an on-site doctor’s office, flexible rehabilitation and respite suites, educational spaces and even a fully licensed pub, will increase opportunities for community integration and improve professional health care collaboration resulting in better resident outcomes and quality of life,” Mullin said.
Besides providing much-needed housing and care services, Golden Life Management aims to increase opportunities for collaboration between professionals, care staff, residents, families and the community at large, Mullin said.
To glean insight in how to do this, the company put together an advisory team that informed planning and design. The multidisciplinary team included occupational and physical therapists, family physicians, front-line staff and directors of clinical care from other Golden Life Villages, as well as members of the construction and design teams.
“We feel we’ve assembled some of the most compassionate and practical senior-care wisdom there is,” Mullin said. “Our robust recruitment efforts have resulted in Kootenay Street Village being fully staffed with a compassionate, kind and dedicated team that is excited to deliver the highest quality of care and hospitality services. We are proud and excited to open our doors to the community.”
Golden Life Management also operates Joseph Creek Village in Cranbrook, which offers seniors 222 total units, including 100 publicly funded and two private-pay long-term care units, 28 assisted living suites and 92 independent living suites.
Lead image: The dining room at Kootenay Street Village. Photos submitted by Interior Health
Interior Health
