‘Shovels in the ground this year’ for long-awaited Lac du Bonnet care home: Premier Wab Kinew [Video]

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/long-term-care-facility-lac-du-bonnet-kinew-1.7151159

Construction of a long-awaited 95-bed personal care home in Lac du Bonnet will begin this year, Premier Wab Kinew says.

“We’re not here to announce a commitment or a plan or feasibility, we’re here to say there will be shovels in the ground this year,” Kinew said at a Thursday news conference.

Plans for the facility were initially announced by the Greg Selinger NDP government in 2012, before they were cancelled by Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government in 2017, and then revived by Heather Stefanson’s PCs in July, before the 2023 election.

The current NDP government announced in December the Lac du Bonnet facility was among health-care-related capital projects under review because of the projected deficit discovered after it took office.

Treasury Board documents show that the facility was “approved in principle but not funded” in 2023, Kinew said in a Thursday news release from the province.

The new facility, expected to open in 2027, will cost an estimated $66 million, including construction, design and equipment, the release says.