South Peace Historical Society

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  • Table of Contents

    • Part 1: First Nations of the Peace River Region
    • Part 2: The Fur Trade Era
    • Part 3: Transportation and Communication
    • Part 4: Old Timers and the Price of Land
    • Part 5: Dawson Creek: The Story of the Community
    • Part 6: Mysteries, Adventures and Indian Legends
    • Part 7: Arts, Crafts and Recreation
    • Part 8: Agriculture
    • Part 9: Church Histories
    • Part 10: Schools
    • Part 11: Health Care
    • Part 12: Industries and Enterprises
    • Part 13: Policing the Peace
    • Part 14: Pouce Coupe, Rolla, and Other South Peace Communities
    • Part 15: Chetwynd and the Fort St. John Area
    • Part 16: The Alberta Peace
    • Part 17: Natural History of the Peace River Region
    • Part 18: Interviews with Old Timers
    • Part 19: Remembering Our Veterans

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BN11-52: Assisted Living Facility Likely to be Built in Dawson Creek

Recent History – 2004 and beyond

By Lee Kaiser — November 28, 2005

A new assisted living facility for seniors in the South Peace likely will be built on the site of the existing Rotary Manor in Dawson Creek.

“B.C. Housing will make the decision by the end of December, based on architectural and engineering reports and whether there’s adequate space,” said the Northeast chief operating officer for Northern Health Larry Tokarchuk. “I’m optimistic it will work at Rotary Manor. It’s a logical site assuming there’s enough space,” Tokarchuk said. “You’ve got a number of features there. For example a Dawson Creek Transit bus comes in so from a service standpoint it’s a good place.”

Northern Health owns the site, he added, which already has Rotary Manor and Southview Apartments, which provides some of its units for a mix of seniors and those physically and mentally challenged. According to a media release last week from Northern Health, the new assisted living facility will provide 26 units. Northern Health had been investigating whether to convert Pouce Coupe’s Peace River Haven intermediate care facility into assisted living units. Tokarchuk said renovating the Haven was not economical due to “structural difficulties.”

It would cost an estimated $125,000 per unit to convert the Haven, and “marginally more” to build a new facility, according to Craig Crawford, vice-president of development for B.C. Housing in Vancouver.

He was unable to release full cost details for a new building as it “might influence the construction bidding process.”

The Gatekeepers group has been lobbying to keep the Haven facility open. Spokesman Paul DeCosta said that while he was happy for whichever community received the new assisted living facility, it didn’t resolve the ongoing problem of finding spots for those at the Haven needing the more intensive intermediate care.

“Everything is on hold and people that could have been admitted haven’t been,” DeCosta said. “Under the old system of intermediate care it was easier to qualify than under assisted living. What happens to those people in the interim because it’s going to take three to four years to build the facility.”

A few years ago the province did away with the intermediate care category in favour of amalgamating the upper end of it with extended care and adding the assisted living category. Assisted living includes specialized housing and 24-hour response to help seniors.

Patrick Michiel, the executive director of Dawson Creek Society for Assisted Living, said the decision to build a new facility is a sound one. Last year, the group had put forward a proposal to convert and operate the Haven as an assisted living facility along with B.C. Housing. Michiel said they plan to remain involved wherever the facility is located.

“We’re involved in assisted living already and we wanted to use our expertise to expand the program. Pending approval of the society, we will be in the hunt to be involved in any subsequent projects,” Michiel said. The society presently operates the Southview assisted living units.

As far as any timeline for closing the Haven, Tokarchuk said there isn’t one but it would definitely be after replacement units have been found. “It depends on a lot of factors. We have to get those assisted living units built and there’s going to be other construction projects in place ultimately so it depends on how many capital dollars we have as to how quick we can do it.”

This article is taken from the Peace River Block Daily News, Dawson Creek, with the permission of the publisher. The Daily News retains all rights relating to this material. The information in this article is intended solely for research or general interest purposes.

« BN11-51: Still No Finalized Plans for the Haven

BN11-53: DCSCL Would Like Building Finished This Year »

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