Providence Living at The Views

Providence Living at The Views

Transforming the future of long-term care

Providence Living at The Views, Canada’s first public, non-profit long-term care village inspired by the dementia village concept, has been serving residents since July 2024. Located in Comox, BC on the former St. Joseph’s Hospital site, it provides innovative care for seniors with and without dementia, as well as younger adults requiring long-term care.

Providence Living’s approach to care moves beyond traditional task-based care to a social relational and resident/family-centered model that emphasizes residents’ needs and preferences. The 156-resident village features 13 households of up to 12 residents each with private suites and bathrooms, enhancing comfort, privacy, and infection control.

Residents maintain independence through flexible routines where they determine their own daily rhythms. They participate in household activities like meal preparation, fostering a sense of belonging and purpose. The innovative “Home for Us” care model is built on three key principles: emotional connections matter most; home is a feeling, not just a place; and residents direct each moment.

The village offers a variety of amenities including a bistro, art studio, coffee shop, grocery store, chapel, gardens, and an Indigenous sacred gathering space designed by the local First Nation. Residents enjoy freedom of movement through secure interior courtyards and intergenerational connections through the on-site daycare.

Providence Living at The Views continues as a model of innovation—a community where residents live with autonomy, dignity, and fulfillment.

In its reimagining of long-term care, Providence is enacting a wholesale shift toward a social relational model of care that supports residents in living their best lives within a home-like environment.

Home for Us is an improvement initiative that shifts the model of care for residents and families from the institutional approach to a social-relational and resident/family-centred model.

The overarching goals of Home for Us are to create living environments that encourage emotional connections and build flourishing, connected communities; to support residents to direct each moment and have maximal control over their day; and to ensure homes feel like home and always bring about a sense of safety and true belonging.

Please click here to learn more about the Home for Us model of care. 

Providence is evolving the experience of living in long-term care to one where residents’ comfort, individuality, and dignity are honoured and prioritized while always delivering the best quality medical and nursing care.

Incorporating best practices from around the world, Providence Living (PL) and Providence Health Care (PHC) have jointly created a made-in-BC model of long-term care called Home for Us (H4U). Person-centred and mission-driven, H4U will be implemented at Providence Living at the Views and has the potential to be applied throughout all existing and newly built Providence Long-term care homes in collaboration with the government and local health authorities.

The overarching goals of Home for Us are: to create living environments that encourage emotional connections and build flourishing, connected communities; to support residents to direct each moment and have maximal control over their day; and to ensure homes feel like home and always bring about a sense of safety and true belonging.

Providence’s new model of care and villages will be public and accessible to all, no matter one’s financial situation.

Leadership

Family Resources

Prior to admission, you or your family are welcome to call us at 778-431-0280 to arrange a tour of our neighbourhood. We encourage you to make an appointment with your family doctor to discuss your personal expectations and goals for yourself or your family member.

If your family will be speaking for you, we ask that you designate a spokesperson. It is important to us that we have one person to call when we need your family’s help. Please inform us if you have any legal arrangements and documents in that regard, such as Power of Attorney or Health Representation Agreement

As part of your health plan, please think about degrees of intervention. These help guide our caregiving if and when your health status changes. You may want to discuss your wishes when you meet with your family doctor. We will review your Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) at our care conferences annually. If you become ill, we will always discuss the options. You may change your MOST at any time.

Visitors will be screened upon arrival and must:

  • Have a recent negative COVID-19 rapid test
  • Provide proof of vaccination
  • Wash hands frequently and properly
  • Use respiratory etiquette

Additionally:

  • All visitors must wear a medical mask when in common spaces. Masks may be removed in private rooms. These will be supplied at the screening desk.
  • Washrooms for visitors are available. Please do not use the washrooms in residents’ rooms.
  • Please be advised these are secure units to ensure the safety of our residents. We want families to be aware that some residents may follow visitors out. If a resident does follow you out and/or into the elevator, please contact a staff member.

Visiting off site:

  • All off-site visits must be booked through the LPN on the resident’s neighbourhood.
  • Off-site visits must follow the same provincial health guidelines for everyone else in the community. These include:
    • frequent hand hygiene
    • respiratory etiquette
    • maintaining physical distancing where possible
    • wearing a mask in indoor public settings or where physical distancing cannot be maintained

Thank you in advance for following our guidelines that will help to keep you, our residents and our staff safe.

Open handbook (PDF) – Resident Handbook

About the Views

Sitting on a spectacular stretch of ocean-front property in Comox, adjacent to the former St. Joseph’s General Hospital, The Views is currently home to 156 residents and offers long-term care in four-bed, semi-private and private rooms.

The care village comprises three neighbourhoods – Mountainview, Oceanview and Eagleview – and features three outdoor decks that provide views of the mountains and ocean. Other features of the facility include:

  • A wheelchair accessible courtyard garden
  • Walking paths and water feature
  • A gazebo
  • Opportunities for gardening

A comprehensive weekly activity roster is complemented by such on-site services as:

  • A hair salon
  • Laundry service for personal items
  • Pet therapy, music therapy and art therapy
  • Occupational therapy and physiotherapy
  • Spiritual care

Checkout our monthly events calendar for all the activities and happenings at The Views this month:

  • What happening on Eagleview
  • What’s happening on Oceanview
  • What’s happening on Mountainview 2
  • What’s happening on Mountainview 3

The Views at St. Joseph’s

2137 Comox Avenue,
Comox, BC  CANADA
V9M 1P2

Tel: 778-431-0280

Email: theviews@providenceliving.ca

Adult Day Care

The Views is pleased to offer an Adult Day Program. Located in the former hospital lobby, the program can accommodate eight participants each day, Monday to Friday. The day program is a great way to prevent caregiver burnout.

The cost is $6/day.

Benefits

The program supports caregivers in caring for a frail senior at home who may require supervision and assistance during the day. The day program is a great way to prevent caregiver burnout by providing a reprieve from the stresses of providing care to get some rest, socialize with others, or attend to other personal priorities.

Program participation may also enable your loved one to remain at home longer, delaying admission to long-term care. Involvement in social activities in a safe environment may also keep your loved one more independent.

As with any new activity, adjusting to a new activity in a new setting may take your loved one some time. Try not to give up too soon. Most participants eventually enjoy the program and start to thrive in it.

What’s included?

• Meals and snacks
• Supervision
• Social opportunities
• Activities

How can I access the program?

Eligibility and enrollment is arranges through your case manager, Island Health, Home & Community Care.

Once your loved one is deemed eligible for participation, transportation to and from the program at The Views can be arranged with HandiDart (250-339-5426). Alternatively, caregivers can drop off and pick up their loved ones directly at the program.

Need more information?

Please call Joyce Shepherd at 778-431-0280, ext 68788.

Youth volunteers are important members of The Views community. Residents and staff look forward to the injection of energy and optimism that they bring. In their distinctive red t-shirts, they can be seen throughout The Views.

The youth volunteer program is open to students Grade 8 to 12. Most youth volunteers serve one-day-per-week.

Contact the Manager of Volunteer Services…

Email anne.winters@providenceliving.ca
Phone 778-431-0280 x 68783.

Content to come

Volunteering at the Views

Volunteers are essential at The Views. Their friendship with residents alleviates loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. Our volunteers are valued members of our health care team, making immeasurable differences by giving freely of their time and talents.

Please print out and complete volunteer application form.

Link to Volunteer Form
There are a variety of volunteer opportunities for both youth and adults at The Views, including:

• Visiting, baking, playing cards and games
• Participating with exercise groups, movie nights, meal assistance, community excursions
• Helping in the art studio and garden
• Teaching computer skills and providing nail care
• Organizing coffee socials, church and spiritual services

Contact the Manager of Volunteer Services at anne.winters@providenceliving.ca or phone 778-431-0280 EXT 8794.

Information for residents and families moving to Providence Living at the Views

Working at the Views

WATCH

The Views Redevelopment Design – Advice from Residents and Families

Providence Living has worked with residents and their families, staff, Indigenous communities, partners and interested groups to gather feedback to create an innovative living environment both in physical design and provision of care.

Frequently Asked Questions

As is the case with long-term care homes, spaces become available over time and that’s why it’s important for people who are wanting to live at The Views to work with their health care teams at Island Health for guidance on the necessary steps.

People who are considering long-term care should work with an Island Health (IH) case manager who can guide them through the necessary steps.

Here is an excellent guide on the process.

There are many questions when it comes to transitioning to long-term care in a public health care setting, and this IH website will answer most of your questions and provide you with the right tools to get started.

Have Questions?
For individuals residing in the North Island region, below is the contact for any further questions you may have about the process:

North Island
All communities north of Deep Bay, including the North Vancouver Island Regional District and adjacent Gulf Islands, Port Alberni, and Tofino: 250-331-8570 /
1-866-928-4988.
Phones are answered seven days a week, 365 days a year.

It is recommended you have the following information with you for yourself or the person you are calling for:
• Full name
• BC Care Card or BC Services Card
• Date of birth
• Home address

All potential residents and family members considering long-term care must follow the steps outlined by Island Health.

Providence Living at The Views stands out as Canada’s first public, non-profit long-term care village based on the concepts of a dementia village. Scheduled to open this summer, it integrates global best practices with a unique, made-in-BC care model, reflecting Providence Living’s aspiration to be a leader in the provision of long-term care, housing and other services for seniors in BC, Canada and beyond.

Located on the north-east corner of the former site of St. Joseph’s General Hospital on the shores of Comox, BC, Providence Living at The Views will be home to both seniors with and without dementia. Its innovative approach to long-term care represents a dramatic shift from today’s seniors’ care philosophies. It puts the focus on the needs and wants of residents, recognizing that aging adults are more likely to thrive when they maintain their independence and cherished routines.

Providence Living at The Views is designed to accommodate both seniors with and without dementia, as well as younger adults requiring long-term care.

Providence Living (PL) and Providence Health Care (PHC) have jointly created a care model for implementation in BC long-term care homes in collaboration with local health authorities. Through incorporating best practices from around the

world, Providence has created a made-in-BC model of long-term care called Home for Us (H4U) that is person-centred and mission-driven.

The care model is a blend of documented best practices that include the Greenhouse Project, Eden Alternative, PIECES approach (a practical, effective approach to change and continuous improvement), and the concepts of dementia villages as described by the De Hogewyk group in the Netherlands. The H4U approach seeks to deliver for the first time in a public long-term care home a social relational approach that challenges the medically dominant, task-oriented care model currently prevalent in the majority of publicly-funded homes

The overarching goals of H4U are: to create living environments that encourage emotional connections and build flourishing, connected communities; to support residents to direct each moment and have maximal control over their day; and to ensure homes feel like home and always bring about a sense of safety and true belonging.

With system-wide changes to improve the quality of life for residents in long-term care, Providence Living at The Views – due to open this summer – represents an important opportunity to transform the future of seniors’ care in BC, Canada and beyond. Historically, long-term care homes in Canada have struggled with aging infrastructures and negative perceptions of being rigid, medicalized institutions.

In its reimagining of long-term care, Providence is enacting a significant shift towards a social relational and resident/family-centred model of care that supports residents in living their best lives within an environment that feels like home. Providence’s new long-term care villages will give residents the ability to see them as an extension of their own home: a place that honours their comfort, individuality, and dignity. The philosophy of care and building design of Providence Living at The Views will support freedom of movement, flexible routines, and autonomy for every resident.

The 156-resident long-term care village will be a true home for seniors – a place that recognizes them as residents with unique needs and interests, and provides them with opportunities for choice, spontaneity, social connections, and day-to-day activities that give their lives joy and purpose.

Providence is evolving the experience of living in long-term care to one where residents’ comfort, individuality, and dignity are honoured and prioritized while all the time their complex medical conditions are properly managed.

The private resident living space of Providence Living at The Views will be organized into 13 households, each configured to accommodate up to 12 residents in private suites. Each household will have its own common living areas, including a kitchen, laundry room, dining room, and living room. Residents can take part in life’s daily pleasures, including making meals and choosing to participate in usual household activities, such as tidying and laundry, which have been shown to help create a sense of belonging and purpose and improve quality of life.

Each suite will have its own bathroom, supporting comfort, privacy, and heightened infection control.

Outside of the households, the building will have a large, secure interior courtyard, providing residents with safe access to the outdoors and opportunities to enjoy the therapeutic quality of nature. The availability of broader amenities, such as the children’s daycare, bistro, art studio, coffee shop, grocery store, gardens, chapel, and an Indigenous sacred gathering space on site, will also invite many opportunities for residents to interact with people of all generations from the local community – by not just inviting community members in, but by creating a thriving village that is also meaningful in the broader community.

Providence Living at The Views will be the first long-term care site in BC to utilize autonomous robots to help move supplies and materials around the building. This will reduce workload, giving staff more time and opportunity to engage directly with residents.

A state-of-the-art tunable lighting system is designed to help people with sensory impairments such as vision loss and cognitive changes such as dementia to see where they want to go and to identify spaces, rooms, equipment, and signs. Optimized lighting also helps people see other people’s faces and body language, participate in recreational activities, join in everyday routines, and enjoy the changing seasons. Tunable features also support healthy circadian patterns to enhance sleep and have been empirically proven to reduce adverse events like falls.

The village will also feature a first-of-its-kind Indigenous sacred gathering space designed by the local First Nations and intended for Indigenous staff, residents, and families to honour their traditions within the village environment.

Providence’s new model of care and villages will be public and accessible to all, no matter one’s financial situation. Residents are assessed and approved for residency by the Health Authority and subsidized where needed according to provincial policy.

Providence’s innovative approach to long-term care represents a dramatic shift from today’s seniors’ care philosophies. It puts the focus on the needs and wants of residents, recognizing that aging adults are more likely to thrive when they are supported to maintain their independence, social connections, and their desired and purposeful personal routines.

The philosophy of care and building design of Providence Living at The Views will support freedom of movement, flexible routines, and autonomy for every resident. Providence is evolving the experience of living in long-term care to one where residents’ comfort, individuality, and dignity are honoured and prioritized while all the time their complex medical conditions are properly managed.

The private resident living space of Providence Living at The Views will be organized into 13 households, each configured to accommodate up to 12 residents in private suites. Each household will have its own common living areas, including a kitchen, laundry room, dining room, and living room. Residents can take part in life’s daily pleasures including making meals and choosing to participate in usual household activities, such as tidying and laundry, which have been shown to help create a sense of belonging and purpose and improve quality of life.

Outside of the households, the building will have a large, secure interior courtyard, providing residents with safe access to the outdoors and opportunities to enjoy the therapeutic quality of nature.

Location information devices help residents and families feel safe navigating independently because they provide staff real-time information about where people are within the village. Location information devices also provide keyless entry functions to minimize the use of keys and help residents remain independent as they enjoy freedom of movement in the village.

A child daycare has been integrated into the care home to encourage intergenerational contact with residents, and also so support staff with small children will have easy access to daycare.

Once construction of the new long-term care village is completed and existing spaces at The Views at St. Joseph’s are vacated, Providence Living is set to embark on an extensive, phased redevelopment of the 13.92 acres of waterfront lands, which will further welcome the local community to be part of the on-site community.

The 156-resident long-term care village will be a true home for seniors – a place that recognizes residents as individuals with unique needs and interests, and provides them with opportunities for choice, spontaneity, social connections, and day-to-day activities that give their lives joy and purpose. It puts the focus on the needs and wants of residents, recognizing that aging adults are more likely to thrive when they are supported to maintain their independence, social connections, and their desired and purposeful personal routines.

Providence Living at The Views will have innovative features, such as tunable lighting and location information devices. It will incorporate the H4U care model whose overarching goals are: to create living environments that encourage emotional connections and build flourishing, connected communities; to support residents to direct each moment and have maximal control over their days; and to ensure homes feel like home and always bring about a sense of safety and true belonging.

The H4U care model transforms almost every aspect of how long-term care is delivered – from thinking about the environment and what is in the environment, to staff qualifications and expectations for how they support residents to have meaningful days, to food and meal experiences. Providence long-term care homes are being transformed from workplaces into households and communities.

There has never been a more important time to enact change in the long-term care we provide for seniors. For the first time in history, there are more Canadians over the age of 65 than under 14. According to Statistics Canada, the seven million people in Canada aged 65 and older now account for nearly one-fifth of the total population (19 per cent), up from 16.9 per cent in 2016. More seniors will have a greater impact on the health care system and increase health care needs.

Through its extensive redevelopment plans and the inclusion of public amenities, Providence Living at The Views is set to welcome the engagement of the local community.

The availability of broader amenities, such as the children’s daycare, bistro, art studio, coffee shop, grocery store, gardens, chapel, and an Indigenous sacred gathering space on site, will also invite many opportunities for residents to interact with people of all generations from the local community – by not just inviting community members in, but by creating a thriving village that is also meaningful in the broader community.

Once construction of the new long-term care village is completed and existing spaces at The Views at St. Joseph’s are vacated, Providence Living is set to embark on an extensive, phased redevelopment of the 13.92 acres of waterfront lands, which will further welcome the local community to be part of the on-site community.

With system-wide changes to improve the quality of life for residents in long-term care, Providence Living at The Views – due to open this summer – represents an important opportunity to transform the future of seniors’ care in BC, Canada and beyond. Historically, long-term care homes in Canada have struggled with aging infrastructures and negative perceptions of being rigid, medicalized institutions. In its reimagining of long-term care, Providence is enacting a significant shift towards a social relational and resident/family-centred model of care that supports residents in living their best lives within an environment that feels like home.

Please connect with us via email, newbuild@providenceliving.ca.