New AR nursing home beds by next summer

By Lawrence Powell

The Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

A new 12-bed addition to Annapolis Royal Nursing Home could be under construction by as early as this fall and doors are expected to open by next summer, staff and residents were told by owner Brian MacLeod earlier this month.

MacLeod and architect Benjie Nycum described the new state-of-the-art facility as being more like a real home and less like an institution while at the same time able to provide the highest level of nursing care.

“We have done extensive research into practices in other parts of the country and outside the country, to find new and better ways to build facilities and care for those who are within,” said MacLeod, whose company MacLeod Group Incorporated of Antigonish, bought Annapolis Royal Nursing Home last October. “We have been very fortunate to be able to have the vast experience of Nycum & Associates and others in this area.”

MacLeod said residents in the new wing, or ‘pod,’ will live together as a group, or household as opposed to being just one person among 50 or 60.

Nycum provided a power-point presentation to staff and residents, explaining that all rooms will be private with more space than the traditional standard and rooms will be grouped around a common area that will include a kitchen, living room, and a spa-like bathing area complete with fireplace.

The group of 12 rooms will be connected to the front of the current facility, filling much of what is now the parking lot on Highway 8. It will include a separate entrance from the rest of the building, and a garden space accessible by all residents.

Layout of the addition has been done in such a way as to cut travel distances for residents who will be able to reach all areas of the pod in as little as 50 to 75 feet. Nycum said the pod concept makes living more ‘homelike,’ and natural lighting has been designed for ambience and energy efficiency, and the whole common area will be climate controlled.

He said the idea of the traditional nursing station has been abandoned. Instead, nursing activities have been broken up into smaller locations throughout the common area. Additionally, there will be a staff area, laundry area, utility room, and storage room.

MacLeod Group purchased a neighbouring property to enable the project to provide adequate parking and vehicle movement, and will move or level the house on that property.

MacLeod and Nycum invited input from residents and staff, noting that the architectural plans put forward that day were for presentation purposes and did not preclude changes based on their wishes and experience.

“I want to thank Linda Bailey who is our administrator, and our staff for the fine work they do here,” MacLeod said. “There are always uncertainties when new owners take over, and they have worked with us for the overall good of the people we are responsible fore. I am confident they will assist us in this new endeavor and keep our residents safe and comfortable during the construction.”

MacLeod said no residents will be disturbed or uprooted during the building process.

“MacLeod Group has extensive experience renovating nursing homes with residents in place.”

In mid-April, MacLeod Group and Nycum staff, visited a new complex in Oshkosh, Wisconsin that employs a similar ‘pod’ concept where nursing home staff does a wider range of care for a small group of residents.

“This way, small groups of residents and staff see each other more often and get more used to each other,” MacLeod said. “We are designing our new facilities to reflect this way of thinking, and allow us to implement as much of this approach as we decide is appropriate for our residents and staff.”

MacLeod said that this work is being done in tandem with cultural redevelopment designed to improve working conditions and empower decision making and job satisfaction throughout the company at all levels.