An assisted living home in White Rock for people with mental illness that was supposed to close at the end of May, will remain open for the foreseeable future as nearly half of its residents wait for details about where they will go next.
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Buena Vista Lodge in White Rock has been operating for more than 50 years offering live-in care for people with mental-health concerns.
The 12-bedroom space, funded through Fraser Health Authority, was expected to close by May 31. The operators of the home wanted to sell it, however FHA opted not to continue funding the residence under new operators and instead invest funding in a new home in Cloverdale.
The Cloverdale residence, which was expected to begin operation on May 1, has not yet opened “due to delays in the construction process that the operator is working through,” Kristelle Heinrichs, Fraser Health’s executive director for mental health and substance use, told Peace Arch News.
“Fraser Health and Buena Vista Lodge have come to a short-term agreement to continue to operate Buena Vista Lodge for the remaining residents. Fraser Health took over the operations as of midnight June 1.”
There are five residents remaining at Buena Vista Lodge, all of whom were expected to move to the 10-bed home in Cloverdale, while the other seven have found new homes “suitable for their needs,” according to Heinrichs.
In the case of Bridget Coombs’ mother Magdalena, the home deemed “suitable” for her is currently a bed at Peace Arch Hospital, where she moved to from Buena Vista Lodge on April 27.
“We still don’t know where she’s moving to,” Coombs told PAN on June 7.
Magdalena is the only one left who does not know where she will live, Coombs said. Following the move to hospital, her mother’s health is the worst it’s been in 13 years, she added.
“She’s having a lot of mental (health) issues, like paranoia and anxiety. She hasn’t had a lot of good days in a row,” Coombs said in an interview on May 12.
“(The move) is probably a big trigger. I’m not an expert, but a stressful thing is happening and I wouldn’t be surprised if this whole thing set something else off.
“She is the last to go and she’s seeing all these people moving, it’s stressful and sad.
“The world around her is changing in a big way.”
Since then, Magdalena’s health has improved and she is doing well, Coombs said, but because she is still in hospital and not a home, the family is anxious about what may lie ahead.
“She’s kind of in this grey area where she’s not bad enough to be in long-term care and sometimes not good enough to be in assisted living, so it just depends on how she is,” Coombs said.
Returning to Buena Vista would be ideal, but only if Fraser Health decides to keep it open permanently, the daughter added.
“If there’s no guarantee that it will (stay open), we’re going to have to go through the same thing. Right now she’s not feeling any stress but in six months, who knows?”
One of the residents left at Buena Vista – and expected to move to Cloverdale – is David Miller, who has been living there since leaving a different home in the community, Good Shepherd Lodge, which closed in 2018.
“He looks really disheveled. He’s definitely worried because he is going into a whole new environment,” said Nick Miller, David’s brother.
“We’re lucky that he does have a home where he can move to, even though it’s in an area that’s going to be really odd for them because if you’ve got a pattern – going around to your coffee shop, walking around, sitting where you do and then you throw them there, it’s going to be devastating.”
A staff member at Buena Vista shared that the remaining residents are confused because they packed all their things and have now had to unpack, leading to concerns about their mental well-being.
Heinrichs would not share any details about the Cloverdale home when asked, but Nick said he visited the space and said the differences between it and Buena Vista are “unbelievable.”
The new home does not have the same surrounding environment, he said, noting he is worried that it may be more of a facility than a home.
How much longer Buena Vista Lodge will stay open and the expected opening date for the new home aren’t yet known, Heinrichs said, noting that everything is dependent on when the Cloverdale facility is complete.
Asked why funding for new operators at Buena Vista Lodge was not granted, Heinrichs said that “there is a process that a health authority works through to grant service agreements and so in this situation, we had moved forward with the new facility.”
“We understand and really appreciate the anxiety and the concern that a change like this, a change in timeline and the stress that that will cause for residents as well as the families,” she said, adding that every resident of Buena Vista Lodge will “absolutely” be found a suitable home.
Fraser Health Authority operates 29 licensed mental health adult facilities with a total of 492 beds, but there are currently no vacancies, FHA communications representative Amory Wong confirmed to PAN.
“We are committed to pursuing new opportunities for bed-based services in South Surrey-White Rock and in communities across the health authority. Between March 2017 and March 2022, we opened 57 net new mental health and substance use beds, with 29 of those in Surrey and South Surrey-White Rock.”
The fact the health authority has taken over temporary ownership is confusing for families and staff at Buena Vista Lodge.
“If they can do that, then why can’t they keep it open (and run it) with somebody else?” Nick Miller asked.
“(The staff) are doing the best they can and they’re being super helpful to David but unfortunately, their hands are bound by the next managers up… it’s not their fault. Some of the staff are still there, but their jobs end, too, so there’s another part of the equation. There’s people coming out of this with no jobs.
“There’s (a billion dollars) put into mental health, why is it not being used for this?”
A Peace Arch News request for an interview with Mental Health Minister Jennifer Whiteside was declined. Her communications department said on Friday (June 9) that a statement attributed to the minister would be sent through email.
PAN had asked the minister why Fraser Health could not operate Buena Vista Lodge long-term, whether there is a need for additional housing for people with mental illness that operation of both the White Rock and Cloverdale homes could help address and if Whiteside has met with the residents and families of the White Rock home.
The minister did not answer any of these questions and only said that everyone involved is being worked with to provide “the best possible care” to the residents.
@SobiaMoman
sobia.moman@peacearchnews.com
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