One swift push into the dirt by local dignitaries signalled the start of construction for a new seniors' care facility in Gibsons this week.
The official ground breaking ceremony for the Good Samaritan Society's Campus of Care took place on Monday on the project site near Shaw Road.
Seniors with low to moderate incomes in Gibsons will have more options for affordable housing and personal care with the construction of 60 assisted living apartments as part of this new campus of care that also includes complex care beds and dementia cottages.
The units are expected to be complete by next fall.
The assisted living apartments are funded under Independent Living B.C., (ILBC) an innovative housing-for-health program facilitated by B.C. Housing in partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). The Town of Gibsons is assisting the project with allowances on development fees.
The facility is planned around a campus of care model, where 30 of the new 80 complex care beds are designated for dementia care clients, who will live in three cottages on the site. The 60 ILBC units will be self-contained apartments where tenants may receive personal care and hospitality services, such as meals, housekeeping and laundry services and recreational opportunities.
Tenants will pay 70 per cent of their after-tax income for their homes.
The ground breaking ceremony included speeches from several invited guests, including North Vancouver MP Don Bell, representing the federal government; Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Harold Long; Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk; Ellen Pekeles, Chief Operating Officer with VCH; and Beverley Boren from Good Sam.
All spoke about the unique and positive partnership that brought the project to this point.
The federal government, through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, is providing a $1.86 million capital grant. The provincial government, through Housing B.C., will provide operating subsidies of $4.9 million over 35 years. B.C. Housing is also providing interim construction financing. Vancouver Coastal Health is responsible for the operating costs, projected at $5.2 million annually towards services provided to tenants, and the Town of Gibsons is providing reductions on various development costs at an approximate value of $194,000.
"We have travelled a long road to get to this point," said Janyk. "Council and staff were pleased with the integrity and honesty of the Good Samaritans as we negotiated the complex aspects of these much needed care residences. We anticipate a progressive future for the community, care residents and future employees.
"Over the next few years, the community is going to see an increase in population and an increase in our senior population. We need to provide the services for them. We will create a facility that we can all be proud of."
This is one of five developments in B.C. owned and operated by the Good Samaritan Society, a non-profit Lutheran social service care-giving organization with more than 50 years' experience in providing continuing care, assisted living and other specialized health care services.
The society also manages campus of care facilities in Penticton, Mountainview Phase I and II in Kelowna and in Salmon Arm.
The society was created in 1949 and built its first facility, a long-term care hospital, in 1955. Capital development has since expanded within Alberta and B.C. to include nine continuing care centres, 10 assisted living facilities, five seniors' supportive housing facilities, 19 purpose-built for persons with developmental disabilities and a corporate office. The Good Sam Society is purchasing the land from VCH for $432,000.
"These 60 affordable assisted living units will allow seniors and persons with disabilities to continue to live in their own communities independently, which defines quality of life for many of them," said Phi Gaudet, president and CEO of the society.
