Residents in Saint Andrews are continuing their push to replace the aging Passamaquoddy Lodge.
A volunteer committee has been working tirelessly on a replacement project for the past five years.
But they say their efforts have been stalled by the provincial government, which has yet to approve the build.
“It’s a 50-year-old building. It needs to be replaced,” Caroline Davies, chair of the development committee, said in an interview.
The committee is holding a pair of open houses this week to update residents on the project and to garner support across communities.
According to Davies, the 60-bed seniors lodge no longer meets provincial standards and the 100-space childcare complex is overflowing.
The new lodge will be fashioned after the “household model” which aims to replace the institutional setting often associated with long-term care with a more inviting home-like environment.
There will be five “homes” with 12 residential rooms in each. All will be single occupancy unlike the current home, which has 20 single rooms and 20 shared rooms.
A corridor would link all of the homes and buildings, which would make it easier for residents to visit one another.
“Our research has shown that we need to go with a home-like environment where you are protecting the lives of your residents, the health of your workers, because you’re minimizing their exposure to viruses like COVID,” said Davies.
“Because it’s in a home-like environment, if there is a virus in one household, the other households can still be open to visitors and the normal way of like.”
The committee also hopes to have an adult day program and a seniors resource centre located within the complex.
Davies said the complex will also include space for 100 child-care spots and a community activity hub to encourage aging in their homes for our seniors.
“We want to support people from infant to long-term care and everything in between,” she said.
But before that can happen, the province needs to give the construction go-ahead and agree to negotiate a per-diem rate for residents.
Davies said she believes the province is holding off on approving the project because it would rather fund new beds rather than replacing existing ones.
“My thought is if they agree to ours, which we’d propose as a demonstration project, then everyone else will want it too,” she said.
Saint Andrews has stepped up with 13 acres of land for the project and several foundations are willing to contribute funding, but Davies said that could be lost if they do not soon get shovels in the ground.
The committee will be asked to sign letters of support during this week’s open houses. They will take place at the W.C. O’Neill Arena Complex from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday.
Copies of the statement of support can also be picked up at Saint Andrews’ town hall during regular business hours.
