Nursing home geared toward needs of N.S. Black communities announced in Halifax

CITYnews halifax \ By Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s premier has announced plans to build a publicly funded nursing home on the eastern outskirts of Halifax geared toward the needsof Black communities.

Tim Houston said Wednesday the 96-room facility on land near the historically Black suburbs of Loon Lake, Cherry Brook, North Preston and East Preston will be “culturally responsive” to its residents.

“This is a good thing …. The facility will be embedded in the strong culture of the communities that surround it,” Houston told a news conference.

The care home will be owned and operated by the non-profit Northwood Inc., and built on land leased from Akoma Holdings Inc., a non-profit set up to provide economic and social opportunities for the province’s Black citizens. The land is part of the property of the former Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children, an orphanage that closed in 1979.

The facility will be open to Nova Scotians of all races, but Kathleen Mitchell, chair of Akoma holdings, says a committee will be formed to ensure its programs and services are tailored to the needsof the Black population.

“This is Black land,” she said, adding that the facility will benefit Black communities both nearby and throughout Nova Scotia.

She added that currently residents of the Preston area — the largest and oldest Black community in the province — often have to travel into the city’s downtown to visit their elders.

“Transportation is a problem for visits for people to visit their families. Also, a lot of the private care homes are highly priced, and I think that (the operator) Northwood would look at what the family income is,” said Mitchell, referring to what the non-profit would charge residents.

Houston said the government’s goal is to have the care home completed within two years, despite a shortage of contractors available in the Halifax area.

 “We’re working to the timeline that it would be open by 2025. That’s ambitious … we have a great arrangement with the municipality with a common goal to make sure this happens,” he said.

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said the city is waiving some of the normal rezoning requirements to ensure the project stays on time.

“The traditional way we’ve done things hasn’t worked for all populations. It has not worked for the African Nova Scotian population …. We’ve said we have to accelerate these (construction approval) processes and do things we normally wouldn’t do,” he said.

“I hope it (the nursing home) will give further impetus to other projects here on the Akoma lands.”

Houston billed the announcement as part of a wider program of the Progressive Conservative government to build seven new, long-term care facilities across the province.

“Too many seniors are in hospitals waiting to get into long-term care,” he said. A news release estimated that 290 people currently occupying hospital beds in Nova Scotia are awaiting long-term care placements.

The nursing home announcement by Houston occurs as political parties gear up for a byelection in the area.

The premier has until Oct. 1 to call a byelection in the riding of Preston to replace Angela Simmons, a Liberal member of the legislature who stepped down in April.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2023.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press