Council concerned with accessibility, mobility issues at assisted living facility

At its meeting on Aug. 27, Council decided to advocate for the Cold Lake Points West Living – Assisted Living Complex to alleviate concerns relating to access and egress from the second floor of its facility in Cold Lake.

“Accessibility and mobility are very important in an assisted living facility, and we’ve heard that the elevator in the facility has suffered frequent outages,” said Mayor Craig Copeland. “It’s not just this facility in Cold Lake, either. From what we’ve heard, we think accessibility in assisted living facilities should be examined province wide.”

With the elevator in Cold Lake having continued outages, residents and families advised Council they feel as though they are trapped in the facility. Staff at the facility have had to reach out to emergency services to assist with bringing residents down the stairwell to access programs, services, and appointments.

A letter will be drafted to MLA Scott Cyr, addressing concerns with challenges surrounding the continuity of essential services, including the elevators or alternatives. The letter will also request feedback on how such issues can be addressed or mitigated to help the important quality of life issues being faced by the residents living in the facility.

“We’ve struggled to get elevator parts for our own facilities over the last little while,” said Copeland. “So this isn’t going to be a quick fix, but something needs to change both in short term and long term.”

In the meantime, Council suggested looking into an alternative method of mobility, such as an automated stair lift, for times when the elevator isn’t working.