Seniors lodge upgrade possible for Picture Butte

Picture Butte seniors may see new lodge facilities before long.

The provincial government has announced a $250,000 planning grant for the Green Acres Foundation, operator of the town’s multi-purpose Piyami Lodge.

“We’re very pleased and excited that the government is supporting this concept,” says Donna Coslovi, chief executive officer at Green Acres in Lethbridge.

It’s important to provide safe, comfortable places for senior citizens to live in their rural communities, she says.

The grant will cover a needs assessment, hopefully leading to a project proposal later this year. It was one of several announced this month by Lori Sigurdson, the province’s minister of seniors and housing.

The Piyami Lodge site is one of a kind, Coslovi points out. In addition to the original 32-unit seniors lodge, it has a secure, 15-person unit for dementia patients as well as doctors’ offices and urgent-care facilities. “It’s a model for other communities,” she says. The Green Acres board hopes to replace the oldest part, the lodge. One of the board’s priorities, Coslovi says, is keeping its buildings functional and in good repair.

In the years since Piyami was built, she points out, standards have changed to include such amenities as wider hallways and safer bathing facilities. As seniors live longer, she says, they find it difficult to use conventional bathtubs.

Coslovi says she hopes the study, looking at the needs of seniors in Picture Butte and nearby communities, will be completed this summer. That would allow the board to submit a capital funding proposal for the provincial government’s consideration later in the year.

Green Acres’ most recent capital project, she says, saw renovations and upgrades to the Sunny South facility in Coaldale.

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