Care home nearly vacated

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This article was published 30/03/2022 (1261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Parkview Place Long Term Care Home announced last summer it would shut down within a year, its cook, Lisete Procak, was preparing daily meals for 161 residents.

Now, she is cooking for just two people.

“Reality is kicking in now,” Procak said. “They’re all gone.”

Revera, the company that runs Parkview Place, provided the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority with a one-year closure notice last August. The decision was “difficult but necessary,” said a statement issued by Revera at that time.

The company said the 440 Edmonton St. high-rise has an outdated design that’s no longer conducive to the care of elderly residents. It also pointed out the space could not be renovated to meet current long-term care standards.

Procak is one of Parkview Place’s longest-serving employees — the most senior worker in the dietary department. She was 16 years old when she was hired as a dietary aid, and for nearly a decade she’s worked there as a cook.

At the 277-bed facility’s peak, Procak was feeding just as many residents. Now, at 59 years old, Procak said doing her job in the mostly uninhabited building is sad at times.

“It’s been a lifetime for me there,” Procak said. “You got very attached to our residents. They were like our family, our parents.”

Larry Roberts, communications director for Revera, said in an email Tuesday that Parkview Place’s two remaining residents are expected to move to new homes soon. He went on to say most of the staff have or will be transferred to other Revera homes in Winnipeg or other community providers.

Manitoba Health has been working with residents and their families to find openings at other care homes, the WRHA confirmed. The move to transfer residents to new homes began immediately following the announcement in August, Procak said.

Jan Legeros, the executive director for the Long Term and Continuing Care Association of Manitoba, said the process has been without hiccups, even in light of the pandemic.

From September 2020 to January 2021, the high-rise was the epicentre of one of the province’s worst outbreaks in which 30 residents died. Revera said in a statement last year the decision to close was made independent of the outbreak.

“At the end of the day, it was an aged facility and was just not conducive,” Legeros said of the 60-year-old building. “That was certainly highlighted during COVID-19.”

Legeros added that despite a facility closure of this magnitude, there’s a “good balance” between the number of individuals waiting for a bed and the number of vacancies. She attributes this balance to the province’s implementation of transitional care units and the priority home model, which aims to keep seniors safely living at home.

“We have made some significant inroads,” Legeros said.

The WRHA said as of Tuesday, 84 hospital patients provincewide had been panelled and are waiting for a long-term care bed. An additional 79 patients are in the panelling process.

As Procak reflects on her career at Parkview Place, she remembers the home as a “wonderful place to work.” However, the last couple of years stick in her mind as the most challenging — years markedly different from all the rest due to the pandemic.

“It was very hard,” she said.

Procak said she, and some other staff members, have yet to receive notices detailing when their positions at Parkview Place will end. Procak’s role could last into July, as the company must keep her on board for eight weeks following the notice, she said.

“Just because we have two residents doesn’t mean they can close the doors tomorrow. No, they can’t,” Procak said.

Roberts said no decisions have been made regarding the disposition of the building.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca