An unstable floor has resulted in 10 senior citizens looking for a new place to live.
On February 16, Saskatoon Health Region (SHR) announced that a recent engineering report on St. Mary's Villa showed that there were serious issues with the stability of the floor in Dust Wing.
This is the same wing which had to be evacuated in December 2010 after a carbon monoxide leak at the facility.
"This has been a very difficult year for the residents, families and employees of St. Mary's Villa," said Sandra Blevins, SHR vice-president of clinic and operations support services. "We know that resident and employee safety at St. Mary's Villa is paramount, and the Region is taking every possible proactive precaution to prevent any future incident at this important community facility."
The report received by the SHR last week showed that while there is no imminent safety risk to residents or staff, preliminary findings indicate that the structure of the flooring system in the wing, which was built in 1975, is gradually deteriorating and "will not meet the care and service needs of residents and their families in the future," a news release issued by the SHR states.
The issue was noticed after issues arose with the linoleum in that wing.
They were having to do a lot of patchwork to the flooring in that wing, said Bonnie Blakley, vice-president of people strategies with the SHR, and on deeper analysis, found that the floor is unstable.
This wing is the only part of the building without a concrete floor. It sits on wooden trusses.
When it was built, it was meant to house those requiring a lower level of care, Blakley explained. And as the level of care required for residents of this wing rose, resulting in a heavier load, more pressure was put on the floor.
The result is that those wooden trusses are now beginning to split.
This means that the 32 residents of Dust Wing have to be relocated to other parts of the facility. It is hoped they will be moved in to their new rooms by March 31.
But relocating these 32 residents means that 10 residents of the enriched housing portion of the facility - nine women and one man in their 80s and 90s - will be moving out very soon. Some were given a move out date of February 21 - notice of less than seven days - as minor renovations need to be done to their suites before the Dust Wing patients can move in. The short notice has upset both enriched housing residents and their families.
"The region is working with these clients to help them find appropriate housing in the community," the news release stated.
Most of the enriched housing units are two rooms - containing a bedroom and a sitting room. Residents share a bathroom and laundry with their neighbour, and take their meals in a common dining room
Due to their size, the enriched housing rooms will be able to accommodate more than 10 residents from Dust Wing, after renovations to the rooms have been completed.
Having enriched housing in a long term care facility is a unique situation in the SHR, Blevins noted.
"Most long term care facilities don't have them," she said.
These units are home for these people, Blevins noted, and it will be understandably hard for them to leave. But the SHR has to make sure that those who need a higher level of care receive it within the facility.
These individuals require minimal health related care, Blakley noted, and are basically independent in their homes.
The rest of the 32 relocated residents from Dust Wing will be placed in other wings of the Villa, where there are empty beds, created when administration began denying new applications to the entire facility some time ago.
No one has to leave the facility, except for the 10 enriched housing residents.
"I think everybody appreciates this is really tough. It's not an easy time at all," Blevins said
SHR representatives were at St. Mary's Villa on Thursday to meet with staff, unions, residents, clients and families about the changes that will be happening in the next month.
The meeting for residents, enriched housing clients, friends and families, held in the evening, was very well attended, Blevins said - well over 150 people were there.
"The discussion was emotional," she said, "which, of course, we appreciated it would be. But it was also very respectful of the residents and clients who needed to be placed in different housing facilities."
The SHR explained why the decision had been made, and committed to sharing information as they receive it.
They also said that the driver behind these decisions is staff and resident safety.
"I think people were very respectful of that," Blevins stated.
There were clients, she admitted, who felt this is a big change, and one being made very quickly.
The SHR responded by saying that the potential for risk is what prompted them to move forward as quickly as they could.
The SHR also explained that one-on-one meetings will be taking place between staff and residents to determine, based on their needs, where they should be placed within the facility.
And the same will be taking place for the enriched housing clients, looking at their specific needs to determine the best housing options for them.
The SHR also committed to a financial bridging strategy for those clients, on an individual basis, Blevins said.
As for what will happen to Dust Wing, there is no plan yet, Blevins said.
A final engineering report will be forthcoming in the next two weeks.
"It won't be easy," Blevins said of whatever happens to that wing. "It will take time to fix."
