Name of new Queens County nursing home unveiled
Peggy Kelley, a resident of Queens Manor, and Bertha Goodwin, a resident of Hillsview Acres, unveil the name of the new long-term care facility in Queens County. (Rick Conrad)
UPDATED FRIDAY AT 3:45 P.M.
The new long-term care facility in Liverpool now has a name.
The 112-bed nursing home will be called The Neighbourhoods of Dogwood Lane.
About 50 people turned out for the name unveiling on Friday morning at the Best Western Plus in Liverpool, including Queens MLA Kim Masland, Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian, regional councillors and some senior municipal staff. There were also residents there from the privately run Queens Manor and the municipally owned Hillsview Acres in Greenfield.
The new $108-million home combines those two facilities.
Andrew MacVicar, executive director of Queens Manor, told the crowd that they received 208 submissions from the community in the naming campaign that began in September.
“We wanted a name that reflected a new beginning and a fresh start,” he said.
“We knew the final name needed to come from the community because this home truly belongs to the community.”
He said the name reflects the new standard in long-term care design of a neighbourhood or household model.
“Smaller households of 12 to 16 residents help create a warm, less institutional environment, one that supports comfort, dignity and a true sense of home. In our new home, we will have four neighbourhoods, each made of two households, for a total of eight households. These neighbourhoods are connected by a central lane that every visitor will walk along to reach their loved one’s household.
“That central lane, beginning right at our front door, will be Dogwood Lane. So, they’re all connected in a way. And I think we can all agree that the dogwood tree has really become a symbol of Queens County.”
Those dogwood trees flourish every spring throughout Queens County. The man who helped bring them to the area in 2000 when he was mayor was Christopher Clarke, who is the chair of the Queens Home for Special Care (the Manor).
He said the new long-term care home represents the biggest construction project in Queens County in the past 50 years.
“It’s a great step forward. It means a lot to me because I’ve been associated with dogwoods in Queens County for a long time and I never thought this snowball would have gathered in momentum and kept growing in size, so it’s great.”
The Neighbourhoods of Dogwood Lane will also add 22 new beds to long-term care in Queens.
All bedrooms in the new facility will be single occupancy with private bathrooms. And each room will have ceiling lifts that extend to the bathroom, to make it easier for staff to help mobility-impaired residents move around their room. The province funds those devices in only 24 rooms.
So, the facility’s board is launching a $4-million fundraising campaign for the rest. Clarke said they’re already getting donations.
“It’s going very well. We’ve had some big donations and we’re reaching a point now where we’re looking for the community to make donations. As they say, no donation is too small. Everybody who makes a donation will be recognized on a board in the facility when it opens.”
Queens Manor’s oldest female resident Peggy Kelley helped to unveil the new name on Friday. The 95-year-old said she’s looking forward to being in the new home next year.
“I think it’s going to be nice to have bigger rooms. I’m actually in a private room. But with the wheelchair, (the room) is quite small and very hard to get around in, but the new ones are going to be bigger and we’re going to have our own bathroom. It’s nice, you don’t have to wait for somebody else.
“It’s going to be nice to be there and it’s such a beautiful looking building.”
Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s minister of natural resources and minister of emergency management, said the province wants to keep people closer to their homes longer. And the new Dogwood Lane facility in Liverpool will help make that happen.
“From a perspective of single beds, single rooms, that’s always been something that’s been very important to me. You know, my grandmother was in Queens Manor, and when she was passing, there was someone beside her that was very ill, that it was very difficult for us as a family not to have that time with her. So I think those single rooms are so important for privacy for our seniors.”
MacVicar said the project is still on track to be finished in the fall of 2026. Depending on final inspections, residents may be in the new facility before Christmas 2026 or in early 2027, he said.
Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com
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