Whitehorse's Macaulay Lodge seniors home closes

Whitehorse's oldest continuing care facility has closed, as residents settle into Copper Ridge Place and the new Whistle Bend Place.

Macaulay Lodge opened in Riverdale in 1969 and was the city's only long term care home for many years, according to Cecilia Fraser, with the territory's Department of Health and Social Services.

"The building is getting quite old now," she said. "The codes have changed, the residents and the complexity of care that we offer has changed as well."   

Most of the staff from the 47-bed Macaulay Lodge have moved to Whistle Bend Place, which opened last fall. Some staff have also moved to other long term care facilities in Whitehorse, such as Birch Lodge and the Thomson Centre.

Fraser said saying goodbye to Macaulay Lodge was bittersweet for a lot of long-time staff members.

"I think the residents actually did better than the staff did," she said.

"For the residents, there was a certain level of excitement, doing something different, new — and maybe a move that some of them hadn't counted on."

Fraser said it hasn't been decided yet what will happen to the Macaulay Lodge building now that it's no longer in use.

The 150-bed Whistle Bend Place, meanwhile, is still little more than half full. Fraser said there will be 78 residents by the end of the week.