Providence Living at The Views

Setting a new benchmark for long-term care

Providence Living is developing a 156-bed long-term care facility on a 14-acre site in the Town of Comox. Beds in the new care village, to be known as Providence Living at The Views, will replace those currently located at The Views at St. Joseph’s.

Using the concepts of a dementia village, our vision includes smaller households that support freedom to choose, move and connect. Our innovative village design will also improve residents’ access to nature and interaction with the community, including fostering of intergenerational connections.

A new kind of social-relational care in the Comox Valley

Care provided at Providence Living at The Views will follow the small scale household model and allow for a personalized, resident-driven style of care that we’re calling Home for Us.

The project represents a new vision for long-term care in BC and will advance the provincial direction for long-term care improvements. This includes steps to improve infection control by replacing all multi-beds rooms with single occupancy ones.

The care village is based on the concept of a dementia village and will include amenities such as a bistro, childcare centre, art studio, a big house, and community space. It would be built to conform to the Town of Comox standards.

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 with any large-scale infrastructure project, a comprehensive assessment of where the building would be located is part of the planning and development process.

Factors taken into location consideration include:

  • Results of various assessments, including a geotechnical study and an assessment of the slope of the property
  • Advice from architects and development consultants
  • Consideration of how the current site can support ongoing operations and care for our residents during construction

Based on this feedback, the north-east corner was determined to be the most appropriate location for a new building.

The new building will have two stories above grade along Comox Avenue. The building will transition from two to three stories, moving north to south and west to east, to compensate for the significant slope of the property. Given how the land slopes, a partial lower level has been created. This supports needs for the overall development, such as some underground parking, space for support functions, and the children’s day care centre.

We are keeping the living spaces to two stories in order to provide a more home-like environment for our residents. This also supports a nearly one-acre, flat interior courtyard to create a beautiful outdoor setting versus a more typical multi-storey long-term care home.

By designing the new care home to work with the slope of the property, and by keeping it to two storeys above grade, the new building minimizes the impact on existing views and will be more consistent with the surrounding neighbourhood.

To support the new build, the front portion of the old acute care hospital building closest to Comox Avenue was demolished in December 2021. The remaining portion of the hospital and other buildings must remain in place until the new building is finished, as these provide accommodations, care, supports and utilities for our residents.

Regarding the entire 14-acre site in Comox, our long-term vision includes creating a vibrant care community with a range of housing and services to support aging in place. In addition to long-term care and specialized dementia care, this may include independent living, supportive housing, outreach and day programs, services, and affordable seniors’ housing.

Master site planning for other innovative developments on the 14-acre Comox campus will begin in late 2022, and will include plans for the existing buildings, as well as the process and timelines for this work.

Once the new building is finished in two years, we will welcome the neighbourhood to become part of our on-site community.

Amenities in the new care village will be destinations and points of interest for the community to use and enjoy, such as the children’s daycare, art studio, resident coffee shop, and chapel. Visitors and area neighbours will be able to drop by and become part of our care home community, whether that means spending time in the gardens, renting community space, visiting the spiritual space or K’omoks Nation Big House on-site.

A big part of what motivates us is creating an environment for seniors that encourages intergenerational connections. To support this, Comox Valley Children’s Day Care Society will operate the children’s daycare that will become part of Providence Living at The Views.

As a non-profit organization, any funds Providence Living receives are reinvested into meeting the needs of the people we serve. Further, we provide for good jobs with competitive salaries and benefits.

Providence Living has also committed to a robust evaluation of our care model and building design to understand the benefits of this approach and how it can be improved. This knowledge will be shared with the broader long-term care sector to benefit others who may pursue this approach in their communities.

All beds in the new build will be part of the publicly funded bed system, just like the current beds are at The Views. The fee would be the same for a resident to reside at this home or any other publicly funded long-term care home in British Columbia. Currently, monthly long-term care rates are based on 80 percent of a person’s after-tax income, subject to a minimum and maximum monthly rate.

Tenants are all aware of the plans for the site. We anticipate most will continue operating through construction. Through master site planning, we will assess and identify future services to be located onsite for the long term.

While the majority of residents in long-term care homes (approximately 70 per cent) live with dementia, the unique design features of Providence Living at The Views will support residents with physical frailty, medical conditions and other needs.

The resident population will be mixed between those with dementia and those with other needs, as is the case currently at The Views at St. Joseph’s. As we are a publicly funded facility, Island Health assesses the needs of those requiring long-term care and works with Providence Living to place residents based on their needs.

A key objective for Providence Living is to ensure that our buildings, programs and services are accessible to all individuals, including people with disabilities. We are aware that many of our residents, families, and visitors have accessibility needs and we will continue to identify, prevent and remove any barriers on an ongoing basis, in a timely manner.

The new building will be built to current accessibility standards. We work in partnership with residents, families, staff, volunteers, the Town of Comox, Island Health, and the community at large to meet, and exceed where possible, the requirements of B.C.’s accessibility legislation to demonstrate leadership on our commitment to access.

Please connect with us via email, newbuild@providenceliving.ca. To speak with someone directly, please call Trudi Beutel, Communications Manager, Providence Living, 604.813.1326.