Health and Social Development Minister Carvin Malone gave several updates on the Adina Donovan Home for the Elderly on Monday in the House of Assembly.
The Public Works Department, he said, is drawing up plans to repurpose the top floor of the former Peebles Hospital to address demand for additional elderly care services.
He acknowledged that the 20 beds at the current home are not sufficient to address the needs of the territory, and said his ministry is increasing funding to the at-home care programme while it works on the long process of constructing a new building.
“If we’re gonna wait on a multimillion-dollar facility at another location and we have the opportunity to expand and get other facilities at the old hospital, it is our opinion that this effort should be given top priority,” he said.
He added that the ministry was granted approval through the budgetary process to find ways to support families caring for elderly relatives, and is working to reinstate senior programmes at various community centres.