Nurisng home teams with college
This sounds interesting! Nursing home teams with college - The Sault Star - Ontario, CA
A $40 million, 256-bed nursing home will be built on Northern Avenue near Sault College.
The four-storey, 155,000-square-foot structure will employ "at least" 300, said Tim Lukenda, president and chief executive officer of Extendicare REIT.
Construction will start in the spring of 2011 with occupancy expected by late 2012.
Private rooms represent about 60 per cent of the long-term care home's beds.
The home won't increase the number of nursing beds available to local residents.
Ninety-five of the 256 beds will come from Great Northern Nursing Centre. The other 161 beds will come from Tendercare and Van Daele.
"We're not going to be able to add new capacity in Sault Ste. Marie unless we build new infrastructure," said MPP David Orazietti following the announcement Friday at Sault College.
Extendicare, the fifth-largest operator of nursing homes in North America, paid Sault College about $160,000 for six acres of land in the post-secondary institution's woodlot on the north side of Northern Avenue.
The home will be built in a "forested setting . . . that blends in with the natural environment and provides a park-like setting for our residents and visitors," said Lukenda.
The Sault Ste. Marie native, and St. Mary's College graduate, unveiled a preliminary drawing of the new building in a nursing classroom.
There will also be two lounges with fireplaces, chapel, country kitchen cafe and an overnight room for family members if a resident is ill.
"This new home will be built to fit the needs of the residents and support the lifestyle that our residents deserve," said Christina McKey, vice-president of Extendicare's eastern operations.
Students from about 10 Sault College programs, including nursing, personal support worker, hairstyling and office administration, are expected to do co-op placements and practicums at the nursing home.
"It's endless, the number of opportunities and real-life experiences that our students are going to be able to get just by walking down the street," said president Ron Common.
Sault College students have been placed in city nursing homes for nearly 40 years, said Fran Rose, dean of health and community services.
Additional students, including those in the occupational therapist and physiotherapist assistant programs, will be able to placed at the new nursing home starting in the 2012-2013 school year.
"The opportunities will increase, which increases our capacity to bring in more students," said Rose.
"Our goal is to grow our programs over the next two to three years, but we have to grow them slowly."
Audience members applauded when Common said the college will likely build a daycare on campus that would also be open to children of nursing home staff.
Extendicare started a similar partnership with Sheridan College at its 156-bed site in Brampton in about 2004.
"We've been able to maximize the benefit to the community by ensuring that this partnership was developed with the college and Extendicare," said Orazietti.
Extendicare REIT operates 258 centres in four provinces and 12 states.
The company also operates Extendicare Van Daele, Extendicare Tendercare and Great Northern Nursing Centre in the Sault.
Lukenda's father, Dr. Lou Lukenda, former president, CEO and majority shareholder of Tendercare (Michigan) Inc., was in attendance. Extendicare bought Tendercare in 2007 for $232 million.
