Culturally safe long-term care beds coming to Surrey

TO support seniors who are no longer able to live in the community, the Province through Fraser Health, will add 125 publicly funded long term-care beds to the region with the planned opening of a new facility in Surrey in 2024.

PICS Diversity Village, operated by Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS), will be open to all seniors in need of long-term care and will provide culturally sensitive services to people who identify as South Asian.

“Across our province, our senior’s population continues to grow, which is why investments into services such as long-term care beds are so important,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “With the addition of these new beds in the Fraser Health region, we are ensuring services for seniors are in place to support people for many years to come.”

PICS Diversity Village will be located at 6471 175A Street in Surrey. It will provide a total of 125 publicly funded beds and feature unique neighbourhoods to facilitate community building with other residents, family members and staff, and will be able to provide care for a full range of complex care residents.

The beds will be resourced at an average of 3.36 direct care hours per resident day in keeping with the provincial target.

“As our population continues to age, we are continuing to bolster the resources we provide seniors living in our region, including long-term care beds,” said Dr. Victoria Lee, Fraser Health President and CEO. “While we want to ensure we are supporting people to live independently in the community for as long as possible, we are also working to make long-term care beds more accessible to seniors if and when they need that level of support.”

While all beds will have the capacity to provide culturally sensitive care to the South Asian population, any senior who meets the criteria to be admitted into long-term care can list PICS Diversity Village as their preferred facility, regardless of their ethnic or cultural background.

“PICS has been serving the community for more than 30 years,” said Satbir Singh Cheema, President and CEO, PICS. “Creating a more inclusive and respectful society is at the core of everything we do, and PICS Diversity Village will be an extension of our vision. I thank all our partners and everyone who has supported our dream of providing a culturally safe home for seniors.”

PICS Diversity Village is a result of a partnership between the Ministry of Health, Fraser Health and PICS.

The total capital cost of the project is expected to be $58 million, with PICS providing $5 million in fundraising for the construction. Once open, the Ministry of Health, through Fraser Health, will provide operational funding on an ongoing basis for care services.

Construction of the new facility is expected to begin in 2022.

Jinny Sims, MLA for Surrey-Panorama, Rachna Singh, MLA for Surrey-Green Timbers, Garry Begg, MLA for Surrey-Guildford, Harry Bains, MLA for Surrey-Newton, Bruce Ralston, MLA for Surrey-Whalley, Jagrup Brar, MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood, and Ravi Kahlon, MLA for Delta North, all praised the project, saying that having a home with PICS Diversity Village, where our seniors can feel safe, cared for and part of the community, is so important.

Quick Facts

To provide seniors who identify as South Asian with culturally sensitive supports, PICS Diversity Village will:

* incorporate South Asian cultural values, traditions and beliefs into the care environment;

* work with cultural and faith-based community organizations to connect residents to their services and include South Asian-focused activities into their programming;

* provide residents with traditional South Asian food options;

* provide residents with activities that are familiar to South Asians;

* communicate with residents in their language; and

* train all staff regarding cultural competence and cultural safety.