Construction complete on new long-term care home in Nunavut
Facility in Rankin Inlet will be 1st to offer top-level care to elders within territory, government says
A ribbon-cutting ceremony in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, on Tuesday celebrated the completed construction of a new long-term care facility to serve the Kivalliq region.
Nunavut elders who need the highest level of care are currently sent to retirement homes in the south, such as Embassy West in Ottawa, because the territory doesn't have facilities of its own to look after them.
Once it opens, however, the new long-term care facility in Rankin Inlet will change that.
"Now we can start the process of bringing our elders home," said Lorne Kusgak, the territory's finance minister, at this week's celebration.
The government of Nunavut says the facility has 24 beds. It's designed for elders who need level 4 or 5 care — the top two levels on the territory's scale for elder care. Health Minister John Main said in a statement that it would be the first time Nunavut could offer top-level care to elders within the territory.
Susie Angootealuk, of Coral Harbour, Nunavut, told CBC News in Inuktitut she hopes her 91-year-old husband will be one of the clients moved from Embassy West to the new home. She said she'd move to Rankin Inlet to be able to see him every day.
Not seeing him regularly is hard, she said, and it's taken a toll on her.
Lori Idlout, Nunavut's NDP MP, said that in each of the territory's communities she's heard from elders who fear being sent to Ottawa as they age.
"I'm so thankful that more elders will be able to age closer to home, closer to their culture, closer to … their loved ones," she said.
The government says the facility and staff are preparing to care for elders starting this spring.