Committee of Management for the Elliott

12:45All the meeting to order.

12:49Good afternoon.

12:50We're gonna call the committee of management

12:55for the Elliot meeting to order now.

13:01Thank you and there's three of us here and two online.

13:07Could I have any disclosure of pecuniary interest?

13:12Seeing none, that's great.

13:16Do we have any confirmation of the minutes?

13:21That Councillor O'Rourke, seconded by Councillor Cousin.

13:27Any comments, any objection?

13:30Nope, okay, that passes.

13:33And we have a consent agenda.

13:35We have the Elliot Long-Term Care Residence

13:40quarterly report for 2023.

13:44For us to receive an attach to that is also

13:46the Long-Term Care Redevelopment Project,

13:48the status update, which we can see has had some delays

13:53and concerns, but is moving forward.

13:56And so would somebody like to put that on the floor

13:59and then we'll take questions to Councillor Cousin,

14:03Councillor Caton, thank you.

14:07Okay, are there any, we have with us today.

14:09We have Michelle Karker and Theresa Moyzen are with us today.

14:13CFO and the CEO, but in the other order.

14:19Are there any questions today that anybody would like

14:24to ask, okay, Councillor O'Rourke?

14:29Thank you Chair Downer, I've got a couple questions.

14:33Let me just scroll through here and find them.

14:35One question is just what are the mitigation plans

14:41for the delays for the Edinburgh redevelopment?

14:47Perhaps you could tell us a little bit more about that.

14:56Through you Chair Downer to Councillor O'Rourke,

14:58mitigation, we are working through the timelines

15:01with the construction manager to try to minimize

15:03the impact as much as possible.

15:05We continue with our planning in regards to purchases.

15:09We are aiming for the August timeline,

15:14knowing that occupancy likely won't happen

15:16till the beginning of September.

15:17So we're working with our home and community care

15:18partners as well for first admission.

15:22So there's a number of things

15:23and we're also looking at the financial piece,

15:24which of course is the largest piece of that.

15:27As we know more, we'll continue to dig down into the details

15:30and have more precise numbers in the coming months.

15:35Thank you Chair Downer.

15:35I've got a couple of other questions

15:37that are actually not related to that bed expansion.

15:41Just looking at the report,

15:44there's you talk about the capital expenditures, et cetera.

15:48Right after COVID, you had a lot of pressures

15:50with supply chain issues in terms of some

15:52of the capital projects.

15:53Is that still an issue?

15:54I'm just trying to understand the context.

15:56Is supply chain still an issue?

15:57Is inflation still an issue?

16:03Thanks for the question.

16:05So I would say supply chain is more consistent

16:11in terms of expectations.

16:12So we are not seeing the longer lead times

16:19that we were before.

16:20It seems to be more consistent

16:21in terms of getting things turned around

16:23for most of our supplies.

16:25That being said, there are a few random purchases,

16:30some furniture that seems to just be taking a lot longer

16:35than we expected.

16:35For the most part, it's back to normal,

16:37but there is a few items that are longer.

16:40So as part of our plan for the construction,

16:42we've already reached out to our furniture suppliers

16:45to see what their lead times are

16:47and we're working with them to make sure

16:48we have everything we need when we need it.

16:51Okay, thanks.

16:52I remember hearing stories about the cost of masks

16:55having gone up by a couple hundred percent.

16:58So just curious about that.

16:59And then just looking at page five of the report

17:04to the committee of management,

17:05you have an interim administrator.

17:07I'm just wondering if you could update this committee

17:09on the search for your administrator

17:14for the long-term care, please.

17:17Through chair Downer to councillor O'Rourke,

17:19the question regarding the administrator.

17:20So we have an interim person

17:21who unfortunately was on holidays today,

17:23so is joining us.

17:25The recruitment has been underway

17:28for the new administrator.

17:30We're doing final interviews this week actually

17:32and hope to have something to bring forward

17:35in the coming weeks.

17:37Yeah, that's great news.

17:38Thanks.

17:39I've got a couple of other questions

17:40about the redevelopment,

17:41but I'm happy to see the floor

17:43if somebody else had some questions first.

17:47Thank you.

17:48Are there any other questions that anybody would like to ask?

17:54Michelle.

17:56Okay, we'll go back to you.

18:00You've got the floor.

18:02Absolutely.

18:03Thank you.

18:04So just shifting to the appendix.

18:07So there will be a delay for those new long-term care beds,

18:11but has there been any concern expressed

18:13from the Ministry of Long-term Care regarding that delay

18:16or is this pretty normal in a bed redevelopment?

18:27Thanks for the question.

18:28So in terms of contact with our ministry,

18:31we've spoken to our ministry liaison.

18:34There was no concerns on their end

18:36in terms of meeting the guidelines

18:42or the expectations they had for finishing the project.

18:47It seems to be pretty common

18:49that they're experiencing this with other projects.

18:51So it wasn't a huge surprise when we contacted them

18:54to say we were a little bit later than expected.

18:58Okay, great.

18:59And through you, Chair Downer,

19:01just a question for clarity at the bottom of your page two

19:06in the appendix and our page 10 in our consolidated package.

19:10I'm just asking for clarification

19:12because I'm not quite sure what it means.

19:13What does it mean where it says,

19:14it's possible the delays will push out the date

19:16when the loan is required

19:18and that's for the construction loan.

19:20What does that mean and what's the impact of that?

19:25Through you, Chair Downer,

19:26to respond to that question about the loan.

19:28So we haven't drawn on the construction loan yet.

19:32Had we already used the construction loan,

19:36then the interest accruing would be longer.

19:40That was my concern.

19:42Since we haven't drawn on it yet,

19:43if we push that out further,

19:45then there'll be less interest costs

19:48than we had originally anticipated.

19:50So it's kind of waiting to see

19:52when we're gonna need that construction financing.

19:55I hope that answers the question.

19:58Sure, thanks.

19:59And then just a couple more.

20:01I'm just curious through you, Chair Downer.

20:04When we've had other large city construction projects,

20:07we know there's a percentage buffer.

20:09So you're indicating that there could be

20:12some cost overruns given some of the delays.

20:15But I'm just wondering if there's a percentage buffer

20:20in the original estimate, what that was,

20:24or if you think that that will be sufficient to absorb.

20:27And I understand there's a number of unknowns,

20:30but I'm just wondering what that buffer was.

20:38So we did build in some contingency

20:41into our overall construction budget.

20:43We are tracking that very closely

20:45and we still have some room left.

20:47So it looks like we'll still be okay

20:49not needing more funds for the construction itself.

20:53That's terrific.

20:54Thank you.

20:55And my last question, Chair Downer,

20:56through you to our representatives from the LAIT.

21:00First, I really appreciate the transparency.

21:02It's required, but it's also really appreciated.

21:05You have a project manager

21:07who is overseeing the construction.

21:10There's a construction manager.

21:11So did both of those have,

21:14or do both of those have long-term care experience?

21:17And is this something that just happens

21:21in these types of builds?

21:26Through Chair Downer to Councillor O'Rourke.

21:28So they did have healthcare experience.

21:31Long-term care is very specific.

21:33And we know with the increased number

21:36of approvals of beds,

21:37there was no construction for many years in long-term care.

21:40And now there's an influx.

21:42So some of that direct experience,

21:46it was very difficult to find that,

21:48but they had relevant healthcare experience.

21:52And with that, they've worked hard to under,

21:55they understand the sector

21:59and the regulations attached to it

22:01through the design standards as well,

22:03which are not that different from hospital

22:07and other environments.

22:08They're unique and different,

22:10but there's some similarities.

22:11So, okay, thanks very much.

22:15Okay, thank you.

22:16Good questions.

22:18Are there any other questions from committee members?

22:24Okay, seeing none, thank you.

22:28I will go to a vote now.

22:29Is there anyone opposed to receiving the report?

22:34Okay, seeing none, that passes.

22:38And I would ask if there are any announcements

22:41from the chair or the Elliott community staff.

22:46I know there is from our staff.

22:48Do you have any announcements, Michelle, for us?

22:52Yes, Chair Jenner.

22:53So just wanted to announce

22:55that we're having our second annual Easter Egg Hunt.

22:58So members of the public can join on March 31st at the Elliott.

23:02So if you have any young people in your lives

23:04who would like to come and search for some eggs,

23:07we'd be happy to have anyone from the community join us.

23:11Perfect, is that inside or outside?

23:13Hopefully outside, yes.

23:15Okay, hopefully we don't get winter back.

23:20Great, thank you very much.

23:21Okay, Deputy CEO Blackbush.

23:25Thank you, Chair Downer.

23:26I just wanted to, I won't say introduce

23:29because you well know her,

23:30I acknowledge that Dana Evans is here this afternoon.

23:33In our recent corporate realignment,

23:34when we took a look at how our departments are structured

23:37as members of council, we'll know the way the city is structured

23:40is that everything operational reports up

23:42to a general manager as the department head

23:44and then up to a deputy CAO or the CAO.

23:48In the case of the Elliott, that was never put in place.

23:51And so in recognizing maybe a gap in our corporate alignment,

23:57we've made the shift and the Elliott,

24:00the responsibility sort of for being the front line liaison

24:03for the Elliott will now sit with Dana

24:05in her portfolio in culture and recreation.

24:07There's a really nice fit because of Dana's oversight

24:10of all of our facilities that we operate,

24:12all of our culture and rec facilities,

24:14but also because of Dana's oversight

24:15of our senior service area as well,

24:17the Evergreen Seniors Community Center.

24:19So Dana's gonna start being here

24:21at committee of management meetings.

24:22She will be the staff person who sits in

24:25on the Elliott board meetings.

24:27And so I just wanted to acknowledge her presence here today.

24:30And it gave me the opportunity

24:32to introduce her to Michelle and Teresa.

24:34I will still remain the deputy CAO of public services

24:37is still the license holder

24:39and the position with the delegated authority

24:41for the long-term care license,

24:43but the sort of operational day-to-day liaison responsibilities

24:47will transfer over to Dana.

24:52Thank you, welcome Dana.

24:54And thank you, Michelle and Teresa

24:58for coming in person today.

24:59It's nice to see you in person.

25:01And with that, I will have a motion to adjourn the meeting.

25:08Councillor Chew, seconded by Councillor Bousetail.

25:11Anyone opposed?

25:13Okay, that passes.

25:14The meeting adjourned.

25:15Thank you.