Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was in our community Friday to attend a ground breaking ceremony for the Willow Square Continuing Care Centre.
Notley visited Fort McMurray in September and promised the community that there would be shovels in the ground come spring.
“We are fulfilling that promise. The long awaited, badly needed, new continuing care centre is underway with construction proceeding full speed ahead,” said Notley.
Mayor Don Scott said that this was an incredible occasion, thanked the Seniors Advisory Committee for all their hard advocacy work and remarked that this was the most significant government project in this community in the 20 years.
“For so many years, the Willow Square Continuing Care Centre was a dream. Today, as shovels go in the ground, seniors and residents of all ages know that the day will soon come when they can choose to retire and age here in Wood Buffalo,” said Scott.
Construction of the $110-million centre is being done by Pomerleau inc. along with S2 Architecture and will continue until the fall of 2019 when the facility will then be taken over by Alberta Health Services (QHS). By spring 2020, residents and their families will be able to move into the facility and receive various levels of supportive living, long-term care and palliative care.
“They’ll have a modern, new facility, one that will allow people to age safely and with dignity, right here in their own community,” said Notley.
The new centre will have 108 spaces will room to expand, a café, library, chapel and auditorium as well as close access to the hospital, transit and shopping. AHS will operate a number of programs and services out of the centre including resident spaces, home care, support services and the Northern Lights Bridges program, which is a day respite care program for the elderly, disabled, or people with dementia or cognitive impairment
Notley said that by investing in this project, the government is investing in better lives for Albertans and helping create a better economy. Through the project, the community will become better set up to meet the needs of seniors and those who need long term care, and create 240 construction jobs along with 127 full time positions for care and support staff to operate the facility.
