After discussing cancer care at Kelowna General Hospital on Thursday, BC Health Minister Adrian Dix stayed in town for a major announcement regarding long-term care facilities today.
Dix announced significant redevelopment plans for both Cottonwoods Care Centre and Mission Creek Landing, where he made the announcement today, that will add 233 new long-term care beds in Kelowna.
"Everyone deserves to know as they age that high-quality health-care services will be available when they're needed, including assisted living and long-term care, close to home," he said.
"The construction of more new long-term care beds in Kelowna is another significant step forward in our efforts to ensure seniors receive care in homes designed to meet their needs.”
The redevelopment plans at Cottonwoods, located at 2255 Ethel St., will see a new four-storey long-term care home built.
Once finished, the new Cottonwoods will increase from the current 221-bed capacity to 314 beds with state-of-the-art features and technology, the Ministry of Health explained in a release.
"Replacing Cottonwoods with a modern care home will be a great addition to the Central Okanagan," said Susan Brown, president and CEO of Interior Health.
"With this new home, our seniors living at Cottonwoods will benefit from an improved health-care environment in a home-like setting.”
The care home will be designed as “households,” the Ministry said, accommodating 12 or 18 residents in single-bed rooms with private washrooms.
It will also have social and recreational spaces found in a typical home environment, including a living room, dining room, activity space and access to the outdoors.
Expected to cost around $187 million, the cost will be shared by the Province through Interior Health (IH) and the Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District.
Construction isn’t expected to begin until 2026 and the current expectation is that a new Cottonwoods will open in 2029.
The redevelopment of the long-term care facility at Mission Creek Landing at 3081 Hall Rd. will happen in two phases, starting with an expansion of the existing facility that will see 30 new beds added by the end of October 2024.
Once that is complete, phase two will begin and it will see another 110 new publicly-funded beds added, with the expectation that they will be ready in late 2026.
The Ministry says IH awarded the project development agreement for Mission Creek Landing to Kaigo Senior Living after a “competitive bidding process.”
The Vancouver-based company will oversee the design and build of both phases of the long-term care home’s redevelopment and expansion.
"Long-term care homes are more than just a place for seniors to receive care, it's their home," said Harwinder Sandhu, parliamentary secretary for senior services and long-term care. "They are a place for residents to call home and age with dignity and live peacefully.”
The Ministry notes that the 233 new long-term care beds coming to Kelowna are part of the Province’s investment plan to add a total of 495 new beds within the IH region.
It started with 90 new beds that opened in Vernon earlier this year, with more planned for facilities in Kamloops, Penticton and Nelson.
Cottonwoods Care Centre originally opened in Kelowna in 1976, while Mission Creek Landing followed suit three years later.
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