Country Meadows A sense of home

The newest 100 bed personal care home in Manitoba is as welcoming as it is state-of-the-art.

Located in the community of Neepawa, the personal care home is known locally as Country Meadows. Neepawa, a town of 3,500, is situated near the junction of highways 16 and 5 about two hours northwest of Winnipeg.

This new facility replaces East View Lodge, the old five storey personal care home that was below current standards and did not have the appropriate space to accommodate residents’ needs.

At one time multi-level personal care homes were common in Manitoba and the residents had greater mobility but with improvements to home care and increased health into the senior years, the current trend sees residents of personal care homes with greater needs than those in years gone by. At a cost of $27 million, the new 100-bed facility is the reward for ten years of planning, fundraising and local, regional and provincial co-operation.

Loreley Fehr, the facility co-ordinator explains, “[Country Meadows] is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building which promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.”

The open concept, one floor building has five pods, housing 20 residents each, and a centralized reception. The pods are organized to make Country Meadows five personal care homes in one.

There is one nursing station per wing with each wing offering everything the residents and staff need, including a dinning area and an activity area complete with a piano. For larger activity events residents can go to the multi-purpose room where they can mingle with other residents. There is a hairdresser on site and each wing has a large, state-of-the-art bathtub.

At the entrance to each resident’s room is a unique memorybox that holds their picture and something special about themselves. The rooms are homey and beautifully-furnished and above all, much roomier than those of the older East View Lodge. All rooms have electric beds with ceiling tracks leading from the bed to the individual bathroom, facilitating mobility and lessening physical strain on the staff.

Rooms are also available in each wing for couples complete with connecting doors. One room could be a sitting room or they can be left as two bedrooms.

Meals are prepared in one large, modern kitchen. With dining rooms on each wing, meals are now brought to the residents and served from two steam buffet tables which means increased efficiency and no waiting. Adjacent to the kitchen is a cafeteria line for staff and visitors to access. Complementing this area are three round tables with chairs to create a café like atmosphere. This area, refered to as the “downtown” section, also has a tuck shop that sells miscellaneous items and is managed by the activities department and with the help of volunteers.

Country Meadows’ Garden Lounge, reception area, is what first greets visitors with lovely plants and lights. This area also houses six administrative offices. A separate entrance on a different side of the building with locker rooms and showers is provided for staff.

Deliveries are received at the loading dock at the back of the building near the maintenance, service and laundry areas. In this area heat and air quality in each resident’s room is separately controlled by computer and looked after by maintenance staff.

Laundry is a larger and more efficient area than in East View Lodge with dirty laundry coming in one end and the clean laundry out the other.

The Adult Day Program (ADP), a program for seniors who are not residents of Country Meadows, now has its own room. The area can be closed off or made larger for bigger events. There is plenty of storage for crafts, puzzles and games, and loungers for rest times.

The Adult Day Program is designed for seniors who come in from the community to socialize and enjoy activities together in a pleasant, relaxed setting for a few hours a couple of times per week under the direction of a co-ordinator. In East View Lodge, the ADP didn’t have dedicated space but got moved around from one area to another based on availability which made program planning a bit frustrating at times. As a former co-ordinator for this program for many years, I speak from experience!

There is a spacious multi-purpose room (MPR) for the residents right off the ADP room as well as a chapel and a beautifully designed and decorated sitting area. These rooms are all interconnected but can be separated as required and activity staff has a large storage area to work from right nearby. An outdoor barbecue area is easily accessible through the patio doors in the MPR.

With a large stone fireplace, vaulted ceilings with floor-to-ceiling windows that capture the views of nature outside, the Fireside Lounge is another sitting room for staff and visitors.

Through the efforts of the local fundraising committee, plans are currently being developed to build gazebos, a planter area and pergola that will offer shade for the residents. The grounds are well-treed with flowers and new grass and patios off each wing with sitting areas for residents.

Next to the Family Room is a Quiet Room used especially by family members when they need to rest, and comes equipped with a TV, lounging chair, microwave, shower, etc.

A treatment room is available where a qualified Nurse- Practitioner can order treatments, medications, do assessments for the residents and diagnostic work. This enhances the care received by the residents and supports the doctors who make rounds. Also offered are occupational and rehabilitation therapy services where the rehab aide and visiting therapists work from. A full-time social worker looks after the general well-being of the residents, helping them especially when they first arrive to settle in and adjust to their new home.

On exiting the building, one is impressed with the architectural beauty, detail and layout of this very functional personal care home. Instead of an institutional feeling, it has a “sense of home.”