Swan Valley Lodge celebrated their 50th anniversary yesterday.
The Creston long-term care home has changed through the years to accommodate the needs of locals, now caring for 90 individuals, offering a wide variety of services.
Now the home provides recreation and community-building services including daily entertainment such as live music and a variety of activities for Swan Valley Lodge residents, as well as adult day program clients from the community.
The Long-term care home opened up in 1968 and saw two major expansions, one in 1995 and another in 2005.
Simon Lazarchuk, who worked at the home for many years as the recreational therapist witnessed the upgrades first-hand and the increase of care it provided.
“I was able to hire an additional person for the day program. Then we got the expansion happening and we were able to hire more staff to man the recreation programs in multi-level and special care. Then we were able to add-on weekends so it just got better and better.”
Residential Services Manager Walter Felitsyn likened the 50 year journey to climbing a mountain with Swan Valley Lodge now at the peak.
He says the organization is 50 years young.
“Yes, for a person 50 years is quite a long age, but for an organization or for a facility, I would say we are not 50 years old. We are 50 years young. We are looking forward to new beginnings. Times are changing. Many things are changing. We try to introduce something new every day.”
Now 10 recreation workers, 75 health care assistants, 8 registered nurses, and 26 practical nurses make sure individuals get the care they need. To commemorate their long history and accomplishments, a celebration and cake cutting ceremony took place featuring guest speakers from Interior Health and all those who helped the home evolve into what it is today.