The first eight residents moved into Michener Hill Village continuing care centre on Wednesday making way for the closure of two public Red Deer nursing homes.
Brenda Corney, whose mother Dorothy Corney, 87, is moving into the new publicly-funded, privately-operated Extendicare facility, said everyone’s impressed with the building.
“It’s absolutely beautiful. The rooms are very large. The structure is very large. Everything seems to be there, but. . . Everyone says but because nobody knows what kind of care people are going to get there,” said Corney on Wednesday.
“There’s got to be some differences because this is a private, for-profit place so they’ve got to make their profit from somewhere, right?”
“It’s either from reducing staff, reducing staff compensation, and maybe minimizing patient care.”
Residents from Red Deer Nursing Home and then Valley Park Manor will gradually be moved to Extendicare, eight people per day six days a week until early October.
The opening comes after rallies protesting the closure of the two aging nursing homes and their 216 long-term care beds.
Extendicare will provide 220 long-term care beds — an increase of only four beds — and 60 designated assisted living beds for people with higher health needs, but do not yet need to go into long-term care.
In the spring, 232 people in the Central Zone of Alberta Health Services were waiting for a long-term care bed, including 52 in Red Deer. Another 108 were waiting for supportive living beds, 46 of them in Red Deer.
Alberta Health Services is determining if Red Deer Nursing Home and Valley Park Manor can be used for other purposes.
Corney said she is anxious about moving her mother, who has dementia, into the new building on Sept. 9 and other residents and their families are also concerned.
Residents will be living in groups of 12 to 14 with access to nurses as well as staff called household attendants who will provide housekeeping, food service and personal care. At the nursing homes, there are personal care workers in addition to staff who do housekeeping and food service.
“We’re heard lots of reassuring words, but I don’t know how these people will take care of 12 people and do everything.”
“I can’t say it won’t work. But I haven’t met anyone in the nursing home who isn’t concerned about the quality of care that will be there.”
Families don’t really care how elaborate the building is. They just want to know there will be adequate staff for their loved ones, she said.
Sam Denhaan, president Central Alberta Council on Aging, questions the expense of Extendicare’s new building and what it will cost Albertans.
“People aren’t wanting luxury. When they’re in that state, they would just like to be comfortable and spend the money on the care and not necessarily on the fancy doodads,” Denhaan said.
Corney said she will be keeping a close eye on her mother.
“The building is absolutely beautiful, but what we needed was more beds. What mom needs is consistent care,” Corney said.
Elsewhere in Red Deer, CollegeSide Gardens is nearing completion of 100 continuing care beds for seniors who require some assistance and Covenant Health is going to build a 100-bed designated assisted living facility.
Extendicare spokesperson Rebecca Scott said open houses will be held at Michener Hill Village on Sept. 26 and 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. for residents, their family and the public.
“We’ll be taking everyone on guided tours. It will be a good opportunity for anyone in the community.”
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com