Behavioural care, support unit planned for Fairview

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This article was published 13/07/2023 (996 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are plans to build new spaces within a Brandon personal care home for seniors who require specialized care, according to Prairie Mountain Health.

PMH has launched a request for proposal (RFP) as it searches for a construction company to build a 12-bed Behavioural Care and Support Unit (BCSU) inside Fairview Personal Care Home.

Fairview has about 248 long-term beds in its two separate towers. The work will take place on the main floor of the second tower, which was built in 1967.

To build the new unit, the north tower will need to be renovated, according to the RFP documents obtained by The Sun, which was confirmed by a PMH spokesperson.

“Fairview will undergo renovations on the first floor to convert one area into the 12 single-room bed unit with a separate activity and dining area, which will result in the reduction of 10 current PCH beds at Fairview,” said the spokesperson in an email to The Sun.

Plans for each resident’s room include a ceiling lift, with the capacity to accommodate a bariatric resident, which is a person who has a body weight of 113 kilograms (250 pounds) or higher.

Additionally, the rooms will have a designated washroom that will meet infection, prevention and control practices.

There will also be a dedicated dining room and activity rooms.

The nursing station will be built with half doors that have plexiglass on top for sight lines and security, as well as a secure medication room.

A new staff room can accommodate shift report, team and client conferences and medication review.

While PMH could not confirm the final cost, because “the project is out for tender,” the RFP documents state that the deadline for submissions is July 25, with a construction budget of $1.6 million.

Seniors who are within a facility’s behavioural care and support unit include those with dementia and challenging behaviours, such as agitation and aggression.

Fairview’s unit will be the first of its kind in western Manitoba, said the PMH spokesperson.

“This is very good news for Prairie Mountain Health as currently we do not have a designated Behavioural Care Unit in the region for clients who require additional staffing and environmental supports that may be required to meet their needs.”

The construction of BCSU projects in Brandon as well as Winkler, which will receive 30 beds, were included in a funding announcement made by Scott Johnston, Manitoba’s minister of seniors and long-term care, last Friday in Niverville, a community about an hour south of Winnipeg.

Johnston said the province plans to build six new personal care homes — one each in Arborg, Lac du Bonnet, Oakbank and Stonewall, and two in Winnipeg — and pledged $15 million to go toward the design and planning phases.

“With the recently released seniors strategy, our government is working towards making Manitoba an ideal place to age. We have learned many lessons in recent years and are building on that to create housing options for Manitoba seniors that are among the best in Canada,” Johnston said in a news release.

In February, the province unveiled its seniors strategy, which was a commitment of more than $34 million for palliative care and community programs.

Included in that funding is a new pilot project slated for Swan River called the Community Supportive Living program that will provide safe, supportive care to seniors with chronic needs in a home-like environment.

There are many seniors with complex health-care needs who do not require a personal care home, said Vikas Sethi, Shared Health’s provincial clinical integration lead, who was alongside Johnston last week in Niverville.

“Those seniors deserve affordable and innovative community-based housing with on-site care supports to be available closer to them so they can continue to live active, independent lives as long as they can in the communities they call home,” Sethi stated in a news release.

The pilot project will have three tiers of support, including 24-7 onsite staff, meals, laundry, and light housekeeping for all clients. There will also be onsite therapy aides and recreational supports as well as access to other health-care professionals as needed.

The province said it will issue a request for proposals to agencies that are interested in developing and delivering those services.

Manitoba is on the right track when it comes to healthy aging, said Connie Newman, executive director of Manitoba Association of Senior Communities (MASC).

In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations launched the Decade of Healthy Aging, which Newman said reflects Manitoba’s outlook toward the older generation.

“With the development and launch of the seniors strategy in February, we’re following the outline of WHO, which stated we need to change how we think, feel and act towards age and aging.”

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