Update: District of West Vancouver Design Review Committee supports design for new Inglewood Care Centre
West Vancouver, B.C., October 27, 2021: The proposal to replace the long-term care residence at Inglewood Care Centre and create additional housing on the same site in a “Continuum of Care” approach for seniors, has passed a key milestone.
The District of West Vancouver’s Design Review Committee, which makes recommendations to staff and council on matters of design and physical and aesthetic impact, has reviewed and unanimously supported the Inglewood proposal from owner Baptist Housing, and ZGF Architects subject to further review with the district.
“This is very encouraging and makes us even more confident that we are on the right track with the concept and design for the new Inglewood,” says Marc Kinna, president and CEO of Baptist Housing. “Our efforts to ‘build in’ design features that we have developed with Vancouver Coastal Health are largely in direct response to what we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, to help prevent the future spread of COVID or any other virus among our residents, their family members and our team members.”
Under the proposal now before the District of West Vancouver, the 230 long term care suites at Inglewood currently funded by Vancouver Coastal Health will eventually expand to 312 (230 replacement funded LTC suites plus 10 new private pay LTC suites in phase one, and 72 more private pay LTC suites in later phases).
The “Household of 12”
Baptist Housing has developed with Vancouver Coastal Health Authority an innovative household model for its Inglewood’s new Long-Term Care (LTC) residences. The new “household of 12” design intentionally moves away from a “dormitory” approach familiar in many LTC residences where residents share a room, in favour of a more “home-like” setting.
- Each resident has a private room with a three-piece ensuite bathroom, enhancing their quality of life.
- The “household of 12” is a part of Baptist Housing’s innovative response to COVID-19 which has led to the creation of new ways to provide protection for vulnerable seniors during times of infectious disease outbreaks, including seasonal flus. It will limit interactions between large groups of residents (infection control strategies) during a flu or other viral outbreaks.
- Each “household of 12” will have its own common dining, living and activity areas to maintain a smaller communal feel. This prevents mass gatherings at mealtimes in a single “downstairs” dining room often seen in LTC settings, with residents having to wait for elevators.
- A glazed visiting room at the household entry allows for visitors to visit residents in their household without physical contact during viral outbreaks.
- There will be two households on each floor of the new LTC buildings based on the current design.
- Support services for each group of 12 residents are provided by a team assigned to each household. Team members access households through the “back of house” while residents and their families through the front.
- Accessibility features ensure the safety, dignity and independence of residents – based on the City of North Vancouver Adaptable Design Guidelines, BC Housing Design Guidelines, and Vancouver Coastal Health Design Guidelines.
Under the “Continuum of Care” approach, seniors live in the kind of residence best suited to them, even if needs should change as they age. Residents will be able to age within the same community, while remaining close to friends, family and familiar supports. The Continuum of Care also allows spouses to remain close to each other in the same community, even if their individual levels of care start to differ.
In partnership with BC Housing and the Ministry of Health, Baptist Housing further proposes to add a wide variety of additional on-site residences in Phase Two. These will offer different levels of support services for seniors including affordable housing and independent living.