Sisters of Saint Martha getting 25-bed nursing home in Antigonish

Nova Scotia announced Tuesday plans to replace a century-old building that's been home to the Sisters of Saint Martha in Antigonish since 1921.

The new 25-bed building will be funded by health-care company Shannex and licensed by the province.

The original section of Bethany House was built in 1921 with additions built in the 1930s and 1960s.

Today, it has a number of safety concerns including the lack of a sprinkler system.

The 60 to 70 nuns who live there say it's now too old and too big for their aging population.

Talks started 3 years ago

Shannex approached The Sisters of Saint Martha more than three years ago tried to reach a deal with them on building a replacement facility.

During negotiations, Health Minister Leo Glavine said he suggested it be a 39-bed unit with 25 beds dedicated to the sisters and the remaining open to the wider community.

Neither Shannex nor the sisters liked the idea.

Shannex president and COO Jason Shannon will not release any details about the cost of the building other than to say it's a "muliti-million dollar project" with no taxpayers' assistance.

$142 a day

Glavine said the province will give the usual per diem of $142 for each of the 25 nursing beds.

"Shannex is able to come in here and spend several million dollars and put up the facility and we will pay the per diem," Glavine says.

In another 10 or 20 years when the sisters are no longer using the beds, they'll be available for community use.

That raises serious questions from those other than Shannex that are in the nursing-home business.

Will be next to Bethany House 

"As the sisters no longer need the facility, it's going to revert to become public nursing home beds and at that point there will be no opportunity for public procurement as per current government policy," says Ramsay Duff, CEO of MacLeod Group Health Services.

"There are any number of providers in the province that would have been able to do a project of this scale and magnitude," he says.

The new nursing home will be built directly beside the Bethany House, which will be demolished.

Construction will begin immediately. Shannex officials say it should be open by February of 2018.