A major fundraising campaign to expand long-term care in Delta got a big boost this week.
On Wednesday (Oct. 4), Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation (DHCHF) announced that developer Ryan Beedie, president of his eponymous industrial and residential real estate company Beedie, and his wife Cindy, executive director of the Beedie Foundation, have donated $5 million to the foundation’s “Coming Home” campaign.
The Beedies’ donation is the largest single gift received to date toward DHCHF’s $18.25-million capital campaign to replace the 46-year-old Mountain View Manor adjacent to Delta Hospital with a new facility, expanding capacity at the site from 92 to 200 beds.
“For Cindy and I, helping communities here in Canada and around the world has always been a part of our lives. We truly believe that giving back and sharing our success with others is a key part of being thoughtful and caring world citizens,” Ryan Beedie said in a press release.
“We’ve partnered with Delta Hospital and Community Foundation on this critical long-term care project to help support local seniors who really made this area what it has become today. We’ve had the pleasure of building in Delta for over 50 years, and our family is proud to be able to give back to a community that’s so important to us.”
In recognition of Ryan and Cindy’s “transformational” gift, the foundation said the new facility will be named the Beedie Long Term Care Centre.
“We are extremely honoured by the Beedies’ inspiring philanthropic support. This remarkable gift will help transform long-term care in Delta,” DHCHF executive director Lisa Hoglund said in a press release.
“The Beedies’ commitment supports the well-being of our growing seniors population, ensuring they have access to exceptional home-like care in our community.”
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Announced June 8, the new facility will be designed as small “households” accommodating 12 or 13 residents, each with their own single-bed room and bathroom. These units will also feature social and recreational spaces found in a typical home, such as a living room, dining room, activity space and access to the outdoors, according to a Ministry of Health press release.
There will also be community spaces and services for residents, families, visitors and staff, including art and activity rooms, a hair salon, a sacred space and a 32-space adult day program for people living more independently.
As well, an innovative stand-alone child daycare facility will be constructed and offer 49 spaces for families.
The new facility will be built using a “care community” model that takes lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic into account, with designs that use new best-practice infection-control standards to improve pandemic resiliency while also being culturally sensitive to serve a diverse population.
As well, Fraser Health will be partnering with local First Nations during the design phase to ensure the facility is a “culturally safe” care home.
Fraser Health will construct, own and operate the long-term care community on vacant land at the Delta Hospital site. The project is in the procurement phase, with construction expected to begin in 2025 and be complete in 2027.
Capital costs will be funded with $179.7 million from the Ministry of Health, plus a $18.25 million commitment by Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation.
The capital campaign is the largest fundraising effort in the foundation’s 35-year history.
READ MORE: New long-term care ‘community’ to replace Delta’s Mountain View Manor
