“FEELS LIKE HOME” - NO INSTITUTIONAL FEEL AT NEW INGLEWOOD CARE CENTRE
New “Household of 12” design, a first in West Vancouver
better protects seniors against future viral outbreaks
West Vancouver, B.C., October 5, 2021: Baptist Housing has developed and proposed an innovative household model for its Inglewood’s new Long-Term Care (LTC) communities. The new “household of 12” design intentionally moves away from a “dormitory” approach familiar in many LTC communities where residents share a room, in favour of a more “home-like” setting.
Under the proposal now before the District of West Vancouver, the 230 long term care suites at Inglewood currently funded by Vancouver Coastal Health will eventually expand to 312 (230 replacement funded LTC suites plus 10 new private pay LTC suites in phase one, and 72 more private pay LTC suites in later phases).
LTC residents will live in “households of 12”
• Each resident has a private room with a three-piece ensuite bathroom, enhancing their quality of life.
• The “household of 12” is a part of Baptist Housing’s innovative response to COVID-19 which has led to the creation of new ways to provide protection for vulnerable seniors during times of infectious disease outbreaks, including seasonal flus. It will limit interactions between large groups of residents (infection control strategies) during a flu or other viral outbreaks.
• Each “household of 12” will have its own common dining, living and activity areas to maintain a smaller communal feel. This prevents mass gatherings at mealtimes in a single “downstairs” dining room often seen in LTC settings, with residents having to wait for elevators.
• A glazed visiting room at the household entry allows for visitors to visit residents in their household without physical contact during viral outbreaks.
• There will be two households on each floor of the new LTC buildings based on the current design.
• Support services for each group of 12 residents are provided by a team assigned to each household. Team members access households through the “back of house” while residents and their families through the front.
• Accessibility features ensure the safety, dignity and independence of residents – based on the City of North Vancouver Adaptable Design Guidelines, BC Housing Design Guidelines, and Vancouver Coastal Health Design Guidelines.
Features include:
• Flat covered and open walking loops with frequent seating,
• Contrasting finishes for visibility,
• Wayfinding with tactile, acoustic and graphic elements,
• Low contrast lighting,
• Electric scooter parking,
• Gender neutral accessible washrooms throughout site,
• Lever handles and/or automatic openers for all doors,
• Sentronic door closers on resident rooms – to assist with ease of opening,
• Wheelchair accessible washbasins,
• Zero threshold showers,
• Zero threshold balconies.
Hon. Adrian Dix, Minister of Health says, “We’ve invested in the Inglewood Care Centre to raise the standard of care to the level that seniors deserve. I’m pleased about this partnership moving forward so that this site can continue to support seniors to age with dignity.”
In partnership with BC Housing and the Ministry of Health, Baptist Housing further proposes to add a wide variety of additional on-site buildings in Phase Two. These will offer different levels of support services including assisted living, affordable housing, on-site housing for team members, independent living and Life Lease homes.
This approach for the site is being called a “Continuum of Care” which enables seniors to live in the kind of community best suited to them, even if needs should change as they age.
Our residents will be able to age within the same community, while remaining close to friends, family and familiar supports. The Continuum of Care also allows spouses to remain close to each other in the same community, even if their individual levels of care start to differ.
About Baptist Housing
As a non-profit faith organization, Baptist Housing has a rich history of serving seniors in British Columbia. Our first senior living community was built in Vancouver’s Killarney neighbourhood in 1964. Today, we serve over 2750 residents supported by 2500 team members. Our 21 senior living communities offer Independent Living, Assisted Living, Long-Term Care and affordable housing for seniors in Vancouver, West Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Abbotsford, Victoria, Kelowna, White Rock, Salmon Arm and Armstrong. For more information on the Inglewood Care Centre project and Baptist Housing, please visit baptisthousing.org
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Media contact:
Deanna Bogart
cel. 604.862.2300