Oromocto's first nursing home to open by 2026

The town of Oromocto, about 20 kilometres southeast of Fredericton, will getits first nursing home in 2026,the Department of Social Development announced Thursday.

The 60-bed home will be operated by Enhanced Living Inc., which already operates special care homes in Oromocto and Gagetown.

It was welcome news for Oromocto Mayor Robert Powell, who saidhe's been hearing from residents that a nursing home was needed in the community since he was first elected in 2012.

In the past, the provincial governmentsaid Oromocto had the youngest demographic age of any community in the provinceand didn't need a nursing home, Powell said.

"We couldn't get it across to the province that we have seniors and we need places."

Currently, any Oromocto residents in need of a nursing home have to move away from their communityand families.

Thatwas the case for Powell's mother, who stayed at Pine Grove nursing home in Fredericton. He said each visit would amount to nearly an hour of driving.

Seniors Minister Kathy Bockus said she too has heard from seniors whohope to be able to access care close to home.

"When they do have to have the care of a nursing home, they want to be in their community."

The future Oromocto home came from a 2022 request for proposals to build four 60-bed nursing homes in Bathurst, Bouctouche, Moncton and Oromocto.

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A new 60-bed nursing home will open in Oromocto in 2026, allowing older residents to stay close to family, the province says.

Sharon Teare, president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions, said recently that there is a "major staffing crisis throughout the province"innursing homes.

At least 245 nursing home beds are vacant in New Brunswick because the homes don't have enough employees to take care of moreresidents, according to Teare, who represents 51 of the province's 73 nursing homes.

Enhanced Living CEO Jason Leesaid he hopesOromocto's younger population will help alleviatestaffing shortages that other homes in the province are facing.

"It's a very young community. We have a lot of people who because of the military base they come and go for two or three years, maybe on deployment here but if they are coming with a spouse that person may be looking for work, we've benefited from that."

The Oromocto announcement comes after the "critical state" hospital protocol was used at the Saint John Regional Hospital and the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton.The protocol gives nursing home priority to alternate level of care patients and is aimedatopening beds in hospitals that are over capacity.

But Social DevelopmentMinister Jill Green, at the announcement in Oromocto,said the decision to move hospitals to critical-state status was not taken lightly.

Her departmentdenieda requestfrom Horizon Health Network to grant "critical state" status to the Oromocto Public Hospital and two other Fredericton-region hospitals.

Lee said he hopes the new home in Oromocto will keep seniors out of hospitals and allow them to stay in their communities, and that some seniors will be able to transition there from the local special care home.

Lee saidthe home will be a single-storey buildingdivided into four households with 15 residents per household. Within the households, each resident will have their own room.

"It's purpose-built, it's designed to be sort ofthe next step in seniors care I think when it's built it will stand out as a very unique, innovative and very comfortable home for our residents."

The town helped choose the Sebani Street location forthe nursing home. Powell saidit was important the location be central, close to the hospital, stores and schools. Powell saidhe does not believe 60 beds is enough.

"Personally, I don't, but it's a start."