Enter a seniors' home!
Their costs have doubled, the timelines have stretched. But the first seniors' homes of the Legault government are about to welcome residents. Almost in time for the elections. Main legacy of Minister Marguerite Blais, who wanted to show the result before leaving.Everyone already has their opinion on seniors' homes, but no one has set foot there yet. On Tuesday, Le Soleil visited the one in the Saint-Étienne sector in Lévis.
The white three-storey building with large windows at the end of the street, in a new residential complex, is expected to be finished by the end of September. Its first users will move there at the end of November or early December.
"I find that there is a beauty in these houses, designed for between 75 and 100 years and where the costs will be spread over that entire period," said Minister Blais, during the guided tour she led for an hour, for about twenty guests
"I find that there is a beauty in these houses, designed for between 75 and 100 years and where the costs will be spread over that entire period," said Minister Blais, during the guided tour she led for an hour, for about twenty guests
La facture des 46 maisons des aînés et alternatives s’élèvera à 2,8 milliards $ d’argent public pour 3480 places. Un calcul simple aboutit au prix moyen «par chambre» surpassant 800 000 $.
LE SOLEIL, YAN DOUBLETLes trois quarts des places promises en maisons des aînés et alternatives seront livrés cet automne, soit 2600. Les bâtisses de Lévis, de Sherbrooke et de Rivière-du-Loup ouvriront les premières. Les dernières iront en 2024;
trois des 46 n’ont même pas encore commencé à être creusées.
À Lévis, à terme, ce sera 120 places, soit 10 unités de 12 personnes. On parle dans ce cas de 96 personnes âgées en perte d’autonomie et de 24 adultes plus jeunes handicapés ou autistes, qui auront leurs deux unités réservées.
La visite a permis de voir l’unité la plus avancée, presque finie.
The first seniors' homes of the Legault government are about to welcome residents.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETThe bill for the 46 seniors' and alternative homes will amount to $2.8 billion in public money for 3480 spaces. A simple calculation results in the average "per room" price exceeding $800,000.
"I don't like the comparison of $800,000 per room," the minister immediately intervenes when we talk about this figure. "It's not [just] a room, it's a living environment, an environment. Each household has a kitchenette, a dining room, a living room, there are occupational spaces, there is mechanical ventilation, kitchens to separate the soiled from the clean. We see that it is not $ 800,000 per room,
that it is spread over all the households, "she insisted.
"Costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic, but at the same time, we're building for a long time. As long as we have to build, why do we not do it efficiently, in a sustainable way? We have the duty as Quebecers, to give a dignified living environment
to our people until the end of their days, "saysMs. Blais.
The price has doubled since the coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) government first announced in 2019.
"It's for the well-being of our seniors and one day we too are going to be seniors. We will appreciate having safe places, living environments and not semblance of hospitals that treat you. It's normal that we are inclined to highlight the costs, but if we want to have an omelette, we must break eggs!" added the local MP, Marc Picard, who accompanied the minister.
The two elected CAQ members are not standing for re-election on 3rd October. They assure not to campaign with such a media outing. This activity was planned for a long time, they swear. Coincidentally, the visit comes the day before the official presentation of the new CAQ candidate in Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, former Radio-Canada journalist Martine Biron, who wants to replace Mr. Picard for the same party.
In every detail
The bill for the 46 seniors' and alternative homes will amount to $2.8 billion in public money for 3480 spaces. A simple calculation results in the average "per room" price exceeding $800,000.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETThree-quarters of the places promised in seniors' homes and alternatives will be delivered this fall, or 2600. The buildings of Lévis, Sherbrooke and Rivière-du-Loup will open first. The last ones will go in 2024; three of the 46 have not even started to be dug yet.
In Lévis, in the long term, it will be 120 places, or 10 units of 12 people. We are talking about 96 elderly people with loss of autonomy and 24 younger adults with disabilities or autism, who will have their two units reserved.
The visit allowed to see the most advanced unit, almost finished.
LE SOLEIL, YAN DOUBLETLes trois quarts des places promises en maisons des aînés et alternatives seront livrés cet automne, soit 2600. Les bâtisses de Lévis, de Sherbrooke et de Rivière-du-Loup ouvriront les premières. Les dernières iront en 2024;
trois des 46 n’ont même pas encore commencé à être creusées.
À Lévis, à terme, ce sera 120 places, soit 10 unités de 12 personnes. On parle dans ce cas de 96 personnes âgées en perte d’autonomie et de 24 adultes plus jeunes handicapés ou autistes, qui auront leurs deux unités réservées.
La visite a permis de voir l’unité la plus avancée, presque finie.
The first seniors' homes of the Legault government are about to welcome residents.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETThe bill for the 46 seniors' and alternative homes will amount to $2.8 billion in public money for 3480 spaces. A simple calculation results in the average "per room" price exceeding $800,000.
"I don't like the comparison of $800,000 per room," the minister immediately intervenes when we talk about this figure. "It's not [just] a room, it's a living environment, an environment. Each household has a kitchenette, a dining room, a living room, there are occupational spaces, there is mechanical ventilation, kitchens to separate the soiled from the clean. We see that it is not $ 800,000 per room,
that it is spread over all the households, "she insisted.
"Costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic, but at the same time, we're building for a long time. As long as we have to build, why do we not do it efficiently, in a sustainable way? We have the duty as Quebecers, to give a dignified living environment
to our people until the end of their days, "saysMs. Blais.
The price has doubled since the coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) government first announced in 2019.
"It's for the well-being of our seniors and one day we too are going to be seniors. We will appreciate having safe places, living environments and not semblance of hospitals that treat you. It's normal that we are inclined to highlight the costs, but if we want to have an omelette, we must break eggs!" added the local MP, Marc Picard, who accompanied the minister.
The two elected CAQ members are not standing for re-election on 3rd October. They assure not to campaign with such a media outing. This activity was planned for a long time, they swear. Coincidentally, the visit comes the day before the official presentation of the new CAQ candidate in Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, former Radio-Canada journalist Martine Biron, who wants to replace Mr. Picard for the same party.
In every detail
The bill for the 46 seniors' and alternative homes will amount to $2.8 billion in public money for 3480 spaces. A simple calculation results in the average "per room" price exceeding $800,000.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETThree-quarters of the places promised in seniors' homes and alternatives will be delivered this fall, or 2600. The buildings of Lévis, Sherbrooke and Rivière-du-Loup will open first. The last ones will go in 2024; three of the 46 have not even started to be dug yet.
In Lévis, in the long term, it will be 120 places, or 10 units of 12 people. We are talking about 96 elderly people with loss of autonomy and 24 younger adults with disabilities or autism, who will have their two units reserved.
The visit allowed to see the most advanced unit, almost finished.
Minister Marguerite Blais led a guided tour of the Seniors' Home in the Saint-Étienne sector in Lévis.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETRooms with individual air conditioning, Umano articulated medical beds made in L'Islet, built-in lift on the ceiling to lead the patient from the bed to his private bathroom. Who does not have a bath — which is another shared room — but a shower without a rim to straddle and a toilet. Everyone has their own bedding cabinet at the door. There are even some extra-wide rooms for obese people.
Clean and dirty do not rub shoulders either in the kitchen or in the laundry room, to avoid contamination. Employees will not do the dishes in the same place that we will make food. Another learning from COVID-19. Work rooms do not mix with living rooms.
With its 120 places, the Lévis seniors' home ranks among the largest in Quebec.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETDuring the visit, the unit visited had been the subject of a clever home staging with an easel to paint here, a coffee table and some toys for the visit of the grandchildren there. Also an iron.
Even the floor covering has been studied and chosen to facilitate movement while avoiding slipping.
Two small 1 1/2 apartments are set up in the building for visiting caregivers. Request from families outside, says MP Picard.
Outside, balconies and in the courtyard, two gardens.
All this on three blocks from a primary school and the municipal library.
85% of employees found
Clean and dirty do not rub shoulders either in the kitchen or in the laundry room, to avoid contamination. Employees will not do the dishes in the same place that we will make food. Another learning from COVID-19.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETMinister Blais recalls that the average life expectancy in residential and long-term care centres (CHSLDs) in Quebec is 24 months. Without saying that a seniors' home will lengthen their lives, she believes that its residents will at least be able to live these months "more in dignity".
It looks like mini-hospitals where life is good. Without the emergency, surgeries and others.
"I don't like the word hospital, because it reminds me of CHSLDs that are often hospitalocentric. But the answer is yes, because it's a place to take care of people. Our people living in CHSLDs are increasingly vulnerable and they need care.
We want a living environment combined with care," saidBlais.
The white three-storey building with large windows at the end of the street, in a new residential complex, is expected to be finished by the end of September. Its first users will move there at the end of November or early December.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLET
Access to spaces in seniors' homes goes through the same system as for CHSLDs. The price is also the same, insists the minister.
In Lévis, of the 144 employees to be found, 85% have already been recruited and 28% are new employees within the CISSS.
"I have been in discussions with the CISSS for years to have a CHSLD, in time, because it was the model. Then in the 2018 election, the CAQ proposed seniors' homes. I immediately met Ms. Blais with the CEO of the CISSS to sell the idea that we had a need east of the Chaudière River, that is to say in Saint-Étienne, "explained Mr. Picard, as if the date project did not yesterday.
With its 120 places, the Lévis seniors' home ranks among the largest in Quebec.
That of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and its 196 future residents comes first.
Access to spaces in seniors' homes goes through the same system as for CHSLDs.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETRooms with individual air conditioning, Umano articulated medical beds made in L'Islet, built-in lift on the ceiling to lead the patient from the bed to his private bathroom. Who does not have a bath — which is another shared room — but a shower without a rim to straddle and a toilet. Everyone has their own bedding cabinet at the door. There are even some extra-wide rooms for obese people.
Clean and dirty do not rub shoulders either in the kitchen or in the laundry room, to avoid contamination. Employees will not do the dishes in the same place that we will make food. Another learning from COVID-19. Work rooms do not mix with living rooms.
With its 120 places, the Lévis seniors' home ranks among the largest in Quebec.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETDuring the visit, the unit visited had been the subject of a clever home staging with an easel to paint here, a coffee table and some toys for the visit of the grandchildren there. Also an iron.
Even the floor covering has been studied and chosen to facilitate movement while avoiding slipping.
Two small 1 1/2 apartments are set up in the building for visiting caregivers. Request from families outside, says MP Picard.
Outside, balconies and in the courtyard, two gardens.
All this on three blocks from a primary school and the municipal library.
85% of employees found
Clean and dirty do not rub shoulders either in the kitchen or in the laundry room, to avoid contamination. Employees will not do the dishes in the same place that we will make food. Another learning from COVID-19.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLETMinister Blais recalls that the average life expectancy in residential and long-term care centres (CHSLDs) in Quebec is 24 months. Without saying that a seniors' home will lengthen their lives, she believes that its residents will at least be able to live these months "more in dignity".
It looks like mini-hospitals where life is good. Without the emergency, surgeries and others.
"I don't like the word hospital, because it reminds me of CHSLDs that are often hospitalocentric. But the answer is yes, because it's a place to take care of people. Our people living in CHSLDs are increasingly vulnerable and they need care.
We want a living environment combined with care," saidBlais.
The white three-storey building with large windows at the end of the street, in a new residential complex, is expected to be finished by the end of September. Its first users will move there at the end of November or early December.
THE SUN, YAN DOUBLET
Access to spaces in seniors' homes goes through the same system as for CHSLDs. The price is also the same, insists the minister.
In Lévis, of the 144 employees to be found, 85% have already been recruited and 28% are new employees within the CISSS.
"I have been in discussions with the CISSS for years to have a CHSLD, in time, because it was the model. Then in the 2018 election, the CAQ proposed seniors' homes. I immediately met Ms. Blais with the CEO of the CISSS to sell the idea that we had a need east of the Chaudière River, that is to say in Saint-Étienne, "explained Mr. Picard, as if the date project did not yesterday.
With its 120 places, the Lévis seniors' home ranks among the largest in Quebec.
That of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and its 196 future residents comes first.
Access to spaces in seniors' homes goes through the same system as for CHSLDs.
