Quesnel residents can expect some sort of announcement on a new long term care facility later this month.
Provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix, in an exclusive interview with VISTA radio, said “clearly Quesnel needs long term care beds and I am really focused on that issue, and I expect to have something to say on that in the month of August.”
Dix added that it’s clearly needed.
“It’s critical for the community. It’s also critical for the hospital, because eventually if you don’t build long term care beds in sufficient numbers then your hospital becomes your long term care home, and you have a high number of what are called alternative level of care beds. So I am very enthusiastic about the Quesnel situation and I think I am going to be talking to you soon about it.”
Dix says long term care homes are massive investments, citing new facilities in places like Cranbrook, Kelowna, Campbell River, Nanaimo, Victoria and Delta, that were in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Northern Health confirmed back in February that is was in the business planning stage around long term care development in Quesnel.
It also confirmed that it was in discussion with the City of Quesnel on potential locations for development.
Sources have identified Cariboo Field in West Quesnel as a potential location.
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