The Province is providing the Nanaimo Travellers Lodge Society $500,000 to help Eden Gardens, a new facility for seniors, provide programs and services that will enhance the quality of life for people with complex care needs.

“This new and beautiful facility will help the Nanaimo Travellers Lodge continue to deliver the safe and compassionate care they have been for the past 35 years in the community,” said Michelle Stilwell, Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation. “This funding will help further improve the lives of seniors with complex care needs in their new home.”

Supported in part through provincial funding announced today, Eden Gardens will provide residents with programs that will enhance their quality of life. This includes art and music programs, interactive gardens, a café, a library and a hair salon to encourage social interaction and help make the facility a community.

“We are grateful to the Province of BC for this funding that will make a direct and meaningful impact on the daily lives of elders living at Eden Gardens,” said Janeane Coutu, Society Board chair. “These funds allow us to enrich our elders’ daily lives through enhanced programs such as music and arts, and the addition of an onsite café and general store. The Nanaimo Travellers Lodge Society has been providing care in our community for over 35 years and we are honoured to have received this funding to improve services for our elders.”

Eden Gardens will replace the Nanaimo Travellers Lodge.  The new facility was completed April 1 and the Nanaimo Travellers Lodge Society will start to relocate the 90 complex care residents from its current location at 1298 Nelson Street in Nanaimo to the new facility located at 1917 Northfield Road on April 28. They will also begin accepting additional clients for 40 new complex care beds.

Island Health selected the Nanaimo Travellers Lodge Society to operate the new facility following a public tendering process that invited organizations to submit proposals to build and operate a new campus of care for seniors.

In 2014, the Province provided approximately $30 million in construction financing for the project, and Island Health provides approximately $10.4 million in annual operating funding. Eden Gardens is also funded through the fundraising efforts of the Nanaimo Travellers Lodge Society.

This builds on the Province’s recent announcement of $500 million over the next four years as part of a Ministry of Health action plan to improve care for seniors across the system, including increasing direct-care hours for seniors in residential care.

Quick Facts:

• Over $2.9 billion was spent by health authorities in home and community care in 2015/16 throughout the province, an increase of over $1.3 billion from 2001.
• There are 27,765 residential-care beds and 4,468 assisted-living units in B.C., an increase of almost 6,800 seniors-care beds since 2001.

Learn more:

For more information on Eden Gardens, visit: http://www.nanaimotravellerslodge.com/

Action Plan to Strengthen Home and Community Care for Seniors: http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/library/publications/year/2017/home-and-community-care-action-plan.pdf

To learn more about the resources available for seniors, please visit: www.SeniorsBC.ca