Larga Baffin lays out plans for growth

Representatives for a medical boarding facility serving Nunavummiut in Ottawa say they’re “pleased” plans can move forward to build a larger facility in the capital city, after an appeal against the build was unsuccessful.

“I think everybody involved is relieved that the process is completed and we’re certainly pleased with the results,” said Bill McCurdy, a representative for Larga Baffin.

“Now it’s time to go to the next step.”

On June 8, the Ontario Land Tribunal dismissed an appeal from the Upper Hunt Club Community Association that objected to the building being located at the intersection of Hunt Club Road and Sieveright Avenue, citing concerns over traffic and the size of the building.

Ottawa city council originally granted rezoning approval to the project in July 2022.

A representative from the association did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

For Larga Baffin, the next step is to submit a site plan application to the City of Ottawa later this summer, McCurdy said.

“We are now getting into more detail in terms of the development plan itself, so more detailed engineering and architectural drawings,” he said.

He expects the site plan application process will take the rest of the year to complete. If all goes well, developers will begin planning for construction to begin sometime at the end of 2024.

Construction of the building will take “about a year and a half to two years from putting shovels in the dirt till it’s open,” he said.

Having a larger facility — a six-storey building with space for 350 beds, compared to the current capacity of 195 beds at the Richmond Road location — means more Nunavummiut from the Qikiqtani region will be accommodated “all under one roof” when they need medical care in Ottawa, McCurdy said.

“It’s just a bigger, better site with more outdoor amenities [and] built for the purpose, so it’ll be just a better experience all around.”

Lawyer Michael Polowin, who represented Larga Baffin at a four-day hearing before the land tribunal in April, said he is “thrilled for Larga Baffin and all of the people that can be helped at this new facility.”

Chris Nolan, the Nunavut Department of Health’s assistant deputy minister for programs and standards explained why a bigger Larga Baffin was needed.

“When [a care facility] is at capacity, what it means is those clients are displaced to a hotel. There’s sometimes challenges getting a hotel, so it leaves the patient just kind of waiting to hear where they’re going to actually be staying,” Nolan said.

“Then when you’re not within the facility, and there’s some support services that are offered that are more challenging to have available to you when you’re staying in an overflow hotel,” it’s difficult, he added.

In that situation, access to meals can be a challenge, as can accessibility to language interpretation, reminders about appointments and other programming that’s delivered by Larga Baffin.

“It really takes the client out of that support structure that’s provided by the boarding home operator,” Nolan said.

Clients usually stay for about a week at care facilities like Larga Baffin, Nolan estimated, but some serious cases like cancer treatments may require months-long stays.

Most temporary medical care facilities like Larga Baffin across Canada also face capacity issues, due to the aging and growing population of the territory and what experts believe is a post-COVID-19 increase in a need for services, Nolan said.

The Health Department continues to look at ways to offer more virtual medical services and bring specialized services like obstetrics to the territory to help ease the amount of medical travel to the south, he said.