New nursing home to be built after outcry on Grand Manan

The New Brunswick government announced on July 12 that it would replace the aging Grand Manan Nursing Home, which is so infested with mold that 10 of the 30 residents have been moved out of the building.
"We're very pleased that the provincial government is moving forward with this," says Rob MacPherson, chief administrative officer for Grand Manan and chairman of the nursing home board. "They told us it's their top priority, and we're anxious to get it going."
Social Development Minister Sue Stultz, who is also responsible for seniors, housing and nonprofit organizations, made the announcement after visiting the facility. "Replacing the Grand Manan Nursing Home is necessary," she said. Stultz stated that it was clear the building was no longer functional. "As a result of the worsening condition, the review of the Grand Manan Nursing Home will be given top priority as the review of the nursing home renovation and replacement plan continues to find deficiencies."
Plagued with mold for a decade, the nursing home had been targeted for replacement by the former Liberal government. However, on Wednesday, July 6, the Progressive Conservative government put that project on hold, and angry and frustrated island residents held a rally at the Grand Manan Nursing Home the next day.
July 7 rally
Local MLA Rick Doucet was quick to admit that the crowd of close to a hundred people gathered outside the Grand Manan Nursing Home was far larger than the number he expected to meet with. Doucet explained, "I was asked to come down to meet with some of the staff and some concerned citizens that were being contacted via Facebook. I really had no idea I was coming to something this big. It just goes to show how upsetting this whole situation is."
The Grand Manan Ocean View Lodge was decorated with signs reading "Our Golden Years C Not Our Molden Years." A crowd of approximately 100 people milled about, listening first to Doucet and then to staff who themselves had fallen ill to the mold contamination.
Working the crowd, Doucet vowed to lead them to Fredericton and protest at the legislature, because movement toward building a replacement nursing home had been stalled since late last year. Someone called out, "Set a date, so we can hire the buses." Several people condemned the Alward government for not making Grand Manan a priority and Minister of Social Development Sue Stultz for not showing up at the impromptu meeting. After assurances from Doucet on getting a date for protest, he was given a tour of the contaminated part of the building and met with some of the now-crowded residents who are packed three persons in two-person bedrooms in the uncontaminated section.
Of the 10 residents who had been moved out, two went to the Grand Manan Hospital and eight to nursing homes on the mainland and Campobello Island.
Future plans
"The remediation of the building has been coming along really well," points out MacPherson. "In the short term, we need to identify where the mold is located. Then the system used to remove it will literally suck it up. Then the building will be disinfected and cleaned, and the air quality tested."
"In the very best case scenario, that could be done in two weeks," he reports. "The air quality test will probably take the longest."
"Ideally, we could have the residents back by the end of the month," says Joanne Ingalls, administrator for the Grand Manan Nursing Home.
The site of the new nursing home is three miles away, across from the Castalia Marsh. MacPherson points out, "The residents can still see Swallowtail from there as well as the ferry coming and going."
When the project was announced in June 2010, the estimated cost of the new facility was $9 million, but the provincial government says costs have since increased to more than $13 million.
MacPherson, Ingalls and other representatives for the Grand Manan Nursing Home traveled to Fredericton to meet the architect of the new island nursing home on July 21. "We should pick up where we left off," says Ingalls. "I'm in hopes that we can have the building framed up by December, so the crew can be working inside during the snowy months."