Province calls for replacement of Tidal View Manor

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com



New long-term care beds and a replacement nursing home for the aging Tidal View Manor are on the way for Yarmouth County but none of it will be here before 2010.

The announcement was made today by Minister of Health and Argyle MLA Chris d'Entremont in Yarmouth Municipal Council chambers. D'Entremont said Tidal View was one of nine long-term care facilities pegged by the province for updates or total replacement. The 12 beds are part of a group of 52 coming to the South West Health District. The other 40 beds are earmarked for the Barrington area.

The location of the 12 beds is yet to be determined; d'Entremont said it would be up to Yarmouth County's two nursing homes — Tidal View and Nakile — to bid on them.

As for the replacement of Tidal View, d'Entremont said it is long overdue. The building is beginning to show its age and is bursting at the seems with little room for residents or the increased number of staff.

But the new facility won't be adding beds. Tidal View has 103 beds with two respite beds; the new facility will have 105 beds. D'Entremont said there was no need to increase the number of beds in the new facility because the added beds in Barrington should be enough.

"The area of Yarmouth is relatively well served," he said. "Somebody that might be sitting in a facility here — Tidal View or Nakile — that lives in Barrington Passage, they'll be moving back to there so there's redistribution. So, we don't feel we require any extra beds except these 12, or so, to make a bit of a difference."

D'Entremont said the decision to renovate versus constructing a new facility would be up to the board at Tidal View.

Sandra Boudreau, the administrator at Tidal View welcomed the news.

"It's awesome, it's just awesome for Tidal View," she said. "We've been saying that we haven't got enough space for a long time . . . We're really squeezed into a facility that is no longer efficient and functional for what we have."

Though there is still much to discuss, Boudreau said her preference would be for the construction of a new facility.