26 new beds are now open on the third floor of the Complex Care building at the Gateway Assisted Living Centre.
Northern Health COO, Mike McMillan says the announcement also addresses capacity issues at University Hospital.
“Integral part of addressing those issues the 15 complex care also created 15 new spaces for seniors that needed that type of care and may of those seniors moved out of the hospital directly into gateway”
“There were days when we had 260, 270, 280 patients at the hospital, we are now down between 210 to 230 so that’s much more manageable”
Prince George-Valemont MLA, Shirley Bond says the additional beds will be an asset to the region.
“We know that we have a growing seniors population in Prince George and in the north so we are going to need these 26 extra beds so we are happy to celebrate the 5th birthday with some new beds in place”
Prince George-Mackenzie MLA, Mike Morris says the province has a good track record when investing in health care.
“BC’s doing a very good job overall right across the country getting the biggest bang for their buck in health care dollars and our outcomes are the best in all of Canada, we do recognize ageing populations want to stay in Prince George and we just have to build those facilities when we have the capacity to do so”
The Gateway Assisted Living Centre celebrated it’s 5th birthday on Friday.
The renovations will cost around 1.2 million dollars with the province footing 60 percent of the bill with the Fraser Fort George Regional Hospital District picking up the rest.