Province to provide new beds at Glen Haven and Valley View Villa

The province announced earlier this month that it will be adding 500 new beds to long-term care facilities. Glen Haven in New Glasgow and Valley View Villa in Stellarton are two of the 27 facilities included in development.

The 500 beds are in addition to more than 2,000 new or improved beds already in progress at said facilities. Over three years more than 2,800 beds across the province will be improved or created.

“Our seniors deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, and to have the right supports in place as they age,” said Premier Tim Houston in a Feb. 7 press release. “The investments we are making will ensure older Nova Scotians have access to modern facilities when they need them and a skilled workforce to care for them.”

Glen Haven and Valley View Villa, in one way or another, will have to undergo construction to accommodate the new/improved beds, says MLA Pat Dunn. Whether that will be renovations, additions or new builds has yet to be determined.

“We want to hit the ground running immediately and get shovels working but we need the present 27 facilities to tell us what they want,” said Dunn in an interview with The News.

He says adding these beds will have a domino effect of positive change.

“We know right now [as of February 1, 2022] there are 1,936 people in Nova Scotia that are on the long-term care waitlist and out of that there’s approximately 333 waiting in hospital for a long-term care bed,” says Dunn.

And demand will only grow as more than 21 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population is over 65 years old.

Dunn says as the three year time period to create these beds draws to a close, they will reevaluate what the needs are in long-term care.

The new long-term care beds will be built in Halifax. They are also working with Veterans Affairs Canada to convert beds they are no longer using into nursing home beds.