HALIFAX – Emotions were running high ahead of a meeting between the municipality, province and family members of those who reside at Grandeur Estates in Hammonds Plains, N.S.
The assisted-living facility made headlines earlier this week when families were informed that some of the residents at the home would have to leave. The reason is that the home did not meet zoning by-laws and had several compliance problems.
“We’re infuriated. Everybody’s been saying that everybody’s big concern is the seniors and it’s not,”said Arlene Aucoin, whose mother and father both live at Grandeur.
“There’s an agenda here. It’s a witch hunt. I don’t feel like anybody’s on our side and nothing is going to happen.”
On Thursday morning, a lengthy meeting was held behind closed doors between government officials and family members.
Roy Hollet, Deputy Chief with Halifax Fire Service, said fire officials conducted an inspection of Grandeur Estates at 8 a.m., Thursday morning and found the building still has issues.
“The building does not have a sprinkler, nor a monitored alarm system,” Hollett said.
Hollet said they have informed the building owner that he has 60 days to address the problems with the home. Aside from modifications to the interior of the structure, Hollet said Grandeur Estates needs to address the “imminent issue of staffing” and improve their staff to client ratio.
“Anyone who cannot self evacuate in an emergency, will require 24/7 care,” said Hollet.
That means the assisted-living facility would need to hire at least three more staff members.
In 60 days, the fire department will do a re-inspection to see what compliance issues the building owner has undertaken or if an extension is required.
If the building owner does not comply or ask for an extension, a summary offence ticket can be issued and a fine can be imposed.
Compliance issues are just one of the problems facing Grandeur Estates. The Hammonds Plains property is currently zoned as a single-unit dwelling but is being used as a residential care facility.
“There really are only two solutions: you either change the use that’s on the property to comply with the zoning, or you change the zoning to comply with the use,” said Steven Higgins, Executive Assistant to the city’s CAO.
Higgins said the building owner can apply to have the property zoning changed — something that would likely be a lengthy process.
The Department of Health and Wellness issues licenses and inspects all nursing homes and residential care facilities in the province. Grandeur Estates is not required to be licensed or regulated because it is an assisted-living facility and as long as patients are receiving an adequate level of care, the department is not involved.
Ruby Knowles, Executive Director with the Department of Health and Wellness, said they will be working to assess the seniors at Grandeur Estates for the families that request it.
No seniors will be moved from the facility for the time being, something that provides a level of comfort for family members.
“I think poor communication is at the heart of these issues. We heard definitively today that neither the city, nor the province, nor the health authority will come in and remove our parents by ambulance with the police, but we had been told that that was going to happen,” said Paula Gallagher, who was concerned about the well-being of her parents.
At this time, there is no indication what the building owner or the operator of Grandeur Estates plan to do.
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