Province urged to expand overcrowded Chéticamp nursing home

A community group in Chéticamp, N.S., says a local nursing home is overcrowded and in desperate need of expansion.

Foyer Pere Fiset was built in 1969 with rooms designed for single-occupancy, yet the majority of its 70 residents are living two to a room.

"People tripping over things.… It's not just a health hazard for the residents, it's also for the staff," said Velvet Dodge Matinnia, chair of the volunteer group Community Matters Allons-y Ensemble.

The group launched an online petition calling for support for the expansion project.

In recent months, the more pressing concern has been that many residents share one bathroom among four people.

"With the COVID-19 … the families got concerned because if one resident got sick, what about the three others that would have to share the same facility?" said Alfred Poirier, municipal councillor for the Chéticamp area and vice-president of seniors homes for Inverness County.

"So it is a very bad situation either way, with COVID-19 and without."

Frustration building

A plan to add a new wing to the building — initially estimated around $3 million to $4 million — has been shovel-ready for four years.

Meanwhile, funding proposals have garnered little response from the provincial government, frustrating the project's proponents.

"They've had all their ducks in a row. They've got their planning permits, their blueprints, they've got all of their professionals in line," said Matinnia. "We're almost spinning our wheels and not getting a proper answer as to why we're not getting the funding."

Unable to follow up on proposal

Matinnia said a letter-writing campaign to all three levels of government resulted in noncommittal auto-responses via email. She said a recent letter from the Nova Scotia health minister's office stated that the department is presently unable to follow up on the proposal.

In a written statement provided to CBC, Department of Health and Wellness spokesperson Marla MacInnis said the department is in ongoing communication with facilities across the province regarding their capital requests, and that since 2015, it has approved more than $2 million in other capital funding for Foyer Pere Fiset.

Poirer said that's to be expected, given that the building is more than 50 years old and requires constant maintenance.