A new senior’s care village slated for south-central Vancouver will change the way care is provided and showcase the power of partnerships when it opens its doors in 2028.
St. Vincent’s Heather long-term care home will provide care for 240 residents in a 13-storey building, located a stone’s throw away from Queen Elizabeth Park. The new care home will feature 20 “households” accommodating 12 residents in single-bed rooms, each with its own washroom. Some specially designed suites with connecting doors will allow couples and families to remain together.
Providence Health Care and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver are contributing the land to build the care home. The Ministry of Health is providing the capital funding while Vancouver Coastal Health will provide the operational funding when the home opens.
In order to create the remaining aspects of this exciting development, Providence Living will develop the remaining land into a full-service seniors’ care village. This village will support healthy aging and choice in a similar fashion to that of the Providence Living seniors’ care village currently under construction in Comox.
The new build in Comox is also ground zero for a new social model of care that Providence Living and Providence Health Care are jointly creating.
“The new St. Vincent’s Heather care beds – as well as the new Providence Living care beds in Comox — will operate under our new Home for Us philosophy,” said Mark Blandford, President and CEO of Providence Living. “Our new philosophy and model of care will replace the traditional task-based, institutional style of care with a social-relational approach of care based on current best practice thinking.”
Home for Us will be implemented first in Comox in 2024 when Providence Living at The Views opens its doors. From there, Home for Us will be implemented at all remaining Providence Health Care long-term care homes across Vancouver.
Long-term care homes provide care and supervision for people with complex care needs, who can no longer live safely and independently at home, through a range of services delivered by well-trained, compassionate and caring staff.
St. Vincent’s Heather will offer vital long-term care for seniors and wraparound services that will support their happiness and well-being in a home designed to meet their needs. This includes culturally safe living spaces and services for Indigenous Elders, such as a sacred space for smudging ceremonies, with access to traditional medicine gardens for spiritual ceremonies.