N.S. puts new seniors' home on hold citing too many infrastructure projects in Cape Breton

The Nova Scotia government is putting construction of a new Cape Breton seniors' home on hold for up to two years, saying there's too many projects already on the go.

The MacGillivray Guest Home in Sydney is 58 years old and the government promised a new building more than three years ago, said Frank Howell, chair of the guest home's foundation.

"If you wait for two years, then you've got three more years of construction, you're talking five years down the road before we can get residents into a new building," he told CBC's Mainstreet Cape Breton. "I don't accept that. We're so frustrated with the situation as it is."

Funding was approved last year and the project was tendered, but last month, the province decided to delay construction.

"Currently, there are several large infrastructure projects underway in Cape Breton," the Department of Seniors and Long-term Care said in an email to CBC News.

"Because of this, the construction we hoped would start this year is being paused.

"We will continue to work closely with the team at R. C. MacGillivray to actively monitor the construction market in Cape Breton and, when it stabilizes, we will work together to move the project forward."

It's not clear what that means. The province built a new NSCC Waterfront campus in downtown Sydney and a new Grade 6-12 school in New Waterford, both of which opened last year.

New health facilities in New Waterford, Glace Bay, Sydney and North Sydney are in various stages of construction.

The department said it's committed to the MacGillivray Guest Home replacement as part of a drive to build and improve 5,700 single long-term care rooms across the province by 2032.

The MacGillivray Guest Home has 82 long-term care beds now and the new one will have 97.

Howell said a recent study found 22 existing features that do not meet the province's standards, including having shared rooms and doorways too narrow for wheelchairs.

One of the biggest problems was rooms are about half the size needed for seniors' housing, he said.

Also, the bathroom doorways are 71 centimetres wide, but the standard is 91 centimetres, and residents have to share bathrooms, which the industry has said was shown to be unacceptable for infection control during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"You've got residents, two living in a room, and they can't get into the bathroom," Howell said.

Provincial inspections done for accreditation have found the staff's standard of care is excellent, but the building is a different story, he said.

"One of the things they did comment on in their last evaluation was that they didn't know how long we were going to be able to keep up our exemplary status, considering the state of the building.

"The building needs to be replaced. No ifs, no ands, no buts.

"[Residents] deserve to be taken care of in a place which is comfortable, which is safe, and where they're cared for."

The lone tender that was received for the project came in over budget, so the board had to trim $4 million worth of features, Howell said.

He's afraid if they wait too long, they will have to retender and the cost will likely come in higher again.

Howell said it would make more sense to split up the project and tender it in stages.

"Give us the funds to begin. Let's get shovels in the ground. We've been waiting a long time for that.

"Our residents [and] their families have been waiting a long time to see shovels in the ground. We've got the land. We're all set to go. Let's start."

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