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Comox care village project on schedule to open in 2024

December 14, 2021 – The next step toward building BC’s first publicly funded long-term care home based on the concepts of a dementia village took an important step forward in December with demolition of the former St. Joseph’s emergency department.

Demolition paves the way for Providence Living Place, Together by the Sea. Construction of the 156-bed dementia village will take place on the site of the existing The Views long-term care home and the former St. Joseph’s General Hospital. Once completed, the village will replace the existing beds at The Views at St. Joseph’s.

Construction will begin in Spring 2022. When complete in 2024, the new care village will set the example in BC and Canada of how publicly funded seniors’ care must be provided to create whole communities where people want to live.

A social model of care and living

Providence Living Place, Together by the Sea will change long-term care from an institutionalized medical model to one that fosters a home-like environment where staff and residents become friends in a culture where families, children, pets and visitors become interwoven into the fabric of life throughout the facility.

The village will have small, self-contained households/communities of 12 private rooms, each with their own bathroom and a small group of staff that will be common to each household, supporting heightened infection control in a modern space.

Providence Living is not only building a new facility in Comox, but is also breaking new ground in how care is provided, in an inclusive and home-like setting where people can find meaning and belonging when they become too frail to live independently.

The innovative design will support a philosophy of care that promotes freedom of movement, safe access to the outdoors and interaction with the community, including opportunities for intergenerational connections.