A whole floor sits empty at Northern Health's Gateway Lodge, a facility for those in need of assisted living and complex care, leaving community members wondering why those 28 spaces remain unused in the $42 million dollar facility.
"The third floor on the assisted living side had always been intended to be privately operated market housing as opposed to publicly funded beds," said Suzanne Campbell, Northern Health director of community and residential care. "So at that time Northern Health went on with its original plan, which was to open and operate the complex care bed component and the two floors of assisted living units."
The third floor has remained unused since the facility officially opened in May 2010. There are 50 units of assisted living that are operational on the first and second floor and 94 complex care beds in another wing of the facility.
"When there's all these people needing care, being warehoused in the hospital, surely to goodness, with a third floor empty - I don't care that it was designated for a private partner and that it's for assisted living - I'm sure it can be converted for long term care because that's what we need right now to get those people out of the hospital," said Lorna Dittmar, Prince George Council of Seniors advocacy committee chair. "There's one ward that's just full of seniors waiting for placement and the longer you leave a senior in a hospital setting where there's minimal stimulation and minimum motivation, when they come out - if they ever come out - they need much higher level of care than when they went in. They lose so much and they don't gain it back."
Campbell said there's about 20 people on the wait list for assisted living and that fluctuates up and down a little bit.
"Part of what we're looking at Northern Health is the full complement of capacity for varied needs," said Campbell. "Assisted living is one component of need but we need to pay attention to what is the actual need for the community of Prince George as a whole for these types of housing and care options."
Because it was developed the way it was, the third floor is now part of Northern Health's capital planning for the whole community, Campbell added.
"We need to bear that in mind as we move forward with service development and think what would be the best way to utilize all of our facility spaces in the community of Prince George," said Campbell. "We need to be thinking about what Prince George needs in the way of a full suite of services. We need to look at the full spectrum of services, that's everything from community based support that would increase people's independence to staying at their own home all the way through to complex care, palliative care and hospice type services as a complement of services to meet those needs."
There's no active plan to open the third floor of Gateway at this time, Campbell added.
"But it's part of our ongoing capital planning when we look at what services are required for the community of Prince George," said Campbell.
