Seniors unable to live on their own won’t be forced to pack their bags and leave Lumby.
After years of lobbying, it’s been announced that a 46-unit residential care facility will be constructed on Norris Avenue.
“I am so pumped about this,” said Mayor Kevin Acton.
“We’ve been sending our seniors out of town forever. We will also be able to help residents of Lavington and Cherryville.”
The Interior Health Authority has signed a contract with inSite, Housing, Hospitality and Health Services to construct and operate the facility with publicly funded residential care beds.
It’s expected that construction will begin in November 2011, with the facility completed in November 2012.
The approval process for the development will be on the Aug. 15 council agenda.
“They want to get shovels in the ground before fall,” said Acton of inSite.
Village councils and residents have been lobbying for a residential care facility for years.
“I was careful not to influence this process but I am personally pleased this is coming to Lumby,” said Eric Foster, Vernon-Monashee MLA and a former Lumby mayor.
Besides providing opportunities for Lumby seniors to reside in their own community, Foster says the facility will provide long-term benefits for the region.
“These beds will relieve some of the pressure at Vernon Jubilee Hospital,” he said.
“This will be a plus for the whole North Okanagan.”
The residential care facility will be located next to Lumby’s health centre and near Monashee Place and Saddle Mountain Place, which are operated by the Lumby Senior Citizens Housing Society.
IHA has partnered with inSite before in Sicamous, Revelstoke, Lake Country, Kelowna, Grand Forks, Keremeos, Golden, Barriere and Ashcroft.
“We enjoy a strong working relationship with Interior Health and we look forward to expanding this relationship to the community of Lumby,” said Carole Holmes, inSite chairperson, in a release.
