After being denied a request for beds for a unit for the cognitively-impaired by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care back in May, Rainycrest administrator Kevin Queen said the home for the aged here now will be looking seriously into developing the new unit itself.
“We are proceeding on our plan to provide a special needs unit. We already asked an architect to start on the plans,” he noted Tuesday. “We always planned to do it but it was only now that we got things underway.”
The new unit will cater to the cognitively-impaired, or residents with afflictions such as Alzheimer’s–something Rainycrest desperately needs, stressed Queen.
“I think it’s extremely important to have services available for people suffering from dementia,” he argued. “Their behaviour can affect others around them, especially those without such a condition. It’s not fair to either party.
“As it stands now, to be all things to everyone just doesn’t work,” he admitted. “Our job is to provide long-term care and this is just another area where there’s a definite need.”
He said details are still sketchy but the unit likely will cost “several hundred thousand dollars.”
“Just like any business, we’ve worked over the years to divert some funds into a reserve–a contingency fund,” noted Queen. “We’ll be using that to cover the costs of this unit.”
The unit will have 32 beds, and it may or may not require an addition of a room or two to Rainycrest. But he said it definitely will require some interior renovations.
“Optimistically, we’re hoping to get it started by fall,” he said, adding he’d like to see the unit ready for occupants by at least the new year.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
