A business case has been developed, but there is still no word on when a new Lions Manor will be built in Richmond.
The Richmond Lions Manor in Steveston was shut down in 2014 because of its deteriorated condition, and its residents were moved to a hotel on Bridgeport Road in north Richmond.
In October 2020, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the business plan was almost ready, and he expected funding to be in place that fall to rebuild the long-term care home.
While Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) confirmed the business case is ready, they added “once it’s approved,” planning for reconstruction will begin for the facility in southwest Richmond.
“We look forward to providing more details at that time,” the VCH statement reads.
However, there has been no word from the province on the project, almost two years after Dix’s statement during the election.
Richmond resident Matt Ilich questioned how long it’s taking to rebuild the Steveston long-term care home.
“We owe it to our parents and grandparents to have a place where they can receive the care they need close to home, in the community in which they lived and raised a family for decades,” Ilich said in a letter to the Richmond News.
But since Dix said in 2020 that planning was underway, it’s been “silence,” Ilich added.
In 2012, it was announced the residents would be moved from Lions Manor to the Executive Inn on Bridgeport. At that time, VCH said it was a temporary solution and they were working on a business case to rebuild the long-term carehome.
Part of the facility had already been shut down, and the remaining residents eventually moved to the hotel in 2014.
In 2017, Vancouver Coastal Health announced it would rebuild the facility with public funds and it would house 144 beds.
The lot at 11771 Fentiman Pl., in Steveston, has sat empty since the run-down facility was shuttered.
Ilich said Kelly Greene, now the BC NDP MLA for Richmond-Steveston, “blasted” the BC Liberals during the 2020 election about not doing enough for seniors care in Richmond.
- with files from Alan Campbell
