Whitehorse 10-bed continuing care facility behind schedule

Renovations to a new continuing care facility in downtown Whitehorse are more than two months behind schedule.

The Yukon government is converting a building on Sixth Avenue, which itbought last winter from theCatholic order Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, into a 10-bed facility.

The government planned to have residents movingin by mid-November, but renovations were not finished.

Pat Living, director of communications for Health and Social Services,saidthere's been a delay in receiving the interior doors for the facility, which are being shipped from outside theterritory.

"The doors, obviously, becausethey're for rooms of persons who may be using a wheelchair ... they have to be larger than a residential door and they also have to be rated to fire coding."

Meanwhile, work continues to equipthe inside of the building with furniture and fixtures. The facility will have a small shared kitchen but Living saidmeals will be delivered from another, larger facility. It also won't have a therapy space.

"It's for individuals who require a lower level of care," says Living.

The original budget for the facility, including the purchase and renovation of the building, was about $2.9 million.

The government is also working toward a new 150-bedfacility in the Whistle Bend subdivision but that project is still years off, and this new downtownfacility is expected to ease some of the pressure on the growing waitinglist for urgent care.

Living saidthe department will announce its updated timeline for opening in early February.