A Unique Public-Private Venture The Colonel Belcher Care Centre and Seniors' Care Residence

by Veronica Scott

As our population ages, the range of housing options for seniors continues to expand. On October 27, 2000, Calgary's Carewest, a public continuing care organization, officially kicked off construction for yet another option, the Colonel Belcher Care Centre and Seniors Residence – a combined public care centre and adjoining private rental apartment complex for seniors.

The 175-bed care centre will accommodate 135 veterans and 40 community seniors, while the adjoining apartment complex will be home to 175 seniors. This type of combined facility for veterans marks the 'first of its kind' in Canada. The building will be situated on an attractive parcel of land in northwest Calgary, close to an established neighbourhood and major traffic routes. The project is generating considerable interest throughout the country.

Carewest, a public continuing care organization and subsidiary of the Calgary Regional Health Authority, operates eight continuing care centres in Calgary along with several day programs to help people with disabilities and chronic illnesses live at home. The organization was selected to manage the project based on its experience with Royal Park, a similar apartment complex-care centre that opened in 1998. The Belcher project is particularly interesting because, like Royal Park, it represents a joint publicprivate partnership between a public continuing care organization and Apex Lifestyle Communities, a housing development company and subsidiary of Apex Corporation.

It is important to note that although this project is a private-public partnership, residents of the care centre will pay the same monthly fee as they would in any other public continuing care centre. The partnership translates to actual construction savings for Carewest and increased profile and experience on the long term care market for Apex Corporation. “One of the key benefits of this joint project for Carewest will be found in cost savings,“ notes Barb Wilkinson, Housing Leader for Carewest. “Although contracts are tendered out, we clearly benefit from Apex's knowledge and experience with the market.” Apex, meanwhile enhances shareholder value with another much needed housing option for seniors.

The objective of the Colonel Belcher Care Centre and Seniors' Residences, slated to open in 2002, is to provide a combined 'full service' continuing care centre and an apartment building for seniors with support services as well as the potential for assisted living. The guiding principle is to promote wellness and as much independence as possible for all residents, whether they live in the apartments or the care centre.

As their health care needs change, apartment residents will have the option of receiving health care support from Carewest for services such as health monitoring, baths and dressing changes, foot care and consultation. “Our ultimate goal is to offer the apartment tenants with support services that are timely, accessible and promote a sense of well-being,” said Ms. Wilkinson. “Hopefully, the apartment residents, most of whom are likely to be elderly women, will be in the best position to retain their health and independence. By providing home health-care support, we hope to delay the need for full- time institutional care.

Background

In 1996, The Calgary Regional Health Authority set up a Veteran's Health Task Force to review the existing veterans' Colonel Belcher Hospital and the needs of its occupants. The task force included representatives from Veterans Affairs Canada, health-care workers and veterans representatives. Members were charged with the responsibility of reviewing existing hospital-care programs and services, identifying short and longterm care needs of clients and strategies to meet those needs.

The hospital, built in 1943 (some renovations and additions have occurred over the years), is in need of major upgrading and no longer fits with the home-like, noninstitutional look and ambiance of contemporary continuing care centres in Alberta. As a traditional hospital, the Colonel Belcher has wide corridors, institutional lighting, nursing stations, hospital-style rooms and bathrooms.

After a year of extensive research, the Task Force concluded that a new facility would best reflect the needs of the aging veteran population and achieve the greatest value for the investment. Renovating the existing hospital would be too complex and costly. Members further recommended that a new, fully integrated care centre on a separate site should be developed with combined accommodation for veterans and other qualified seniors.

The Task Force Recommendations are, in fact, closely aligned with several recommendations in the Veterans Affairs Canada Continuum of Care Strategy (1999). This strategy identified key considerations regarding services for seniors:

Some of the guiding principles for the design and future operations of the new Colonel Belcher Care Centre focus on:

Although the overall facility – care centre and seniors apartments – will be home to 350 people, a great deal of thought has been given to creating an architecturally attractive, residential, non-institutional building that complements the surrounding community.

The height of the buildings is staggered between one to five stories, there are sky lights, large windows, shingled roofs, patios and walkways. The rooms in the care centre will be private, each having an exterior view to gardens or courtyards and many will have small kitchenettes. The grounds will feature a formal 'legacy garden' in honor of Canada's veterans.

The care centre will have a pub, hairdressing salon, family dining rooms, lounges, a green house, dens, woodworking shop, ceramics studio, arts and crafts area, resident library, café, and gift shop. Administration space will be kept to a minimum with some spaces for multi-purpose use. For example, family dining rooms and small visiting areas will be used for team meetings and family conferences. The objective will be for care staff to be integrated as much as possible with the day to day life of the residents. The old concept of nursing stations will be excluded and replaced with discreet but functional work areas that blend into the surroundings.

Apartments

The attached seniors residence, billed as a progressive care retirement community, includes 175 residential style rental apartments - studio, one and two bedroom apartments. Monthly rents cover 24 hour on-site emergency response, a full time activities coordinator and scheduled transportation to shops and services.

Apartment dwellers will also have health and personal care options on a monthly fee basis. These include meals, personal care services, assistance with bathing and dressing, administration of medications and linen and laundry services. “The Seniors Residence at the Colonel Belcher is the one place where seniors can have it all; a spirit of community, a sense of continuity, the comforts of home and the peace of mind that comes from having optional care as it is needed literally at your door. It is an environment that respects the balance between seniors' desire for independence, security and their need for some support,” Apex promotional material states. Since the official ground breaking ceremony last fall, Apex Lifestyles Communities has received a steady stream of inquiries. Although the apartments are not planned to open for two years, seventy-five people are now on the waiting list.

A Complex Project With Multiple Stakeholders

On the surface, constructing a building is a relatively straightforward task – produce a design, purchase land, acquire necessary permits and commence construction. As a joint project between private and public organizations and with vested interest from multiple stakeholders, the Colonel Belcher facility is more complex than the average construction project. The core partners include:

In addition to ongoing liaison with Municipal and Provincial Government Departments and agencies, the interests and concerns of many people must be represented as construction progresses. To do this, an advisory committee was established early in the developmental stage. Representatives include a family member of one of the veterans and members of the two adjoining neighbourhoods.

Some of the major issues involve the architectural design and scope of the building, its compatibility with the surrounding community, the actual construction process including legalities, permits and procedures, and finally the interests and concerns of the veterans and their families. Every effort has been made to preserve the 'veterans' culture' –with its ceremonies, formalities and traditions.

Given its complexities, however, the project is moving forward toward Alberta's second public-private partnership in seniors' housing. For more information about the Colonel Belcher Care Centre and Seniors Residence, please check the Web site: www. colonelbelchercentre.com