Thanks to an extensive renovation project undertaken by Projects, Planning & Facilities Management at Providence, six residents at St. Vincent’s: Langara moved into freshly constructed single bedrooms last month that had been converted from three quad rooms (formerly housing four residents per room).

Each new room features a private bathroom, a television and a sitting space for visitors. The completion of these six beds is just the first step in a multi-phase project to increase single bedrooms at the site.

“Next, we will be creating a further six rooms by converting ancillary spaces into single rooms to ensure there is no loss in the overall bed census at Langara,” says Tony Munster, Executive Director – Projects, Planning & Facilities Management.

Langara residents aren’t the only ones who can expect increased access to single rooms. Work is underway elsewhere at Providence, including a renovation that will create six single rooms without bed loss at Youville, and the acquisition of a seniors care home that will see Providence opening 110 renovated single beds at the Chénchenstway site in Burnaby.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly three years ago, deaths and severe illness from COVID-19 have disproportionately affected seniors living in long-term care, as infection spread was seen to accelerate in multi-occupancy spaces. Providence Health Care has since worked closely with the Ministry of Health to create new single room capacity wherever possible.

Single rooms are also a key component of Providence Health Care’s and Providence Living’s vision for the future of seniors care to radically improve the environment and experience of residents by replacing traditional care homes with genuine communities.  
“We aim to rebuild all of our outdated sites, but for now we are focused on creating living environments that offer increased privacy and reduced risks associated with infectious outbreaks,” says Mark Blandford, Vice President, Seniors Care, Clinical & Operations. “We are indebted to Tony Munster and his team for the creative way they have found funds for this work and have managed the renovations in a way that minimizes bed loss.”

Feedback from staff and residents at Langara has been overwhelmingly positive since the new bedrooms opened at the beginning of September.  

“I love how bright it is,” says an Aspen resident B.C., who recently moved in to one of the new rooms. “It makes me happy not to be in the four bedroom room…I can sleep a lot better. Everyone likes to come and check out my new room and they love the bathroom.”

People-Forward