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PWL Lac La Biche is ready for residents

May 30th, 2018

Everything is coming together nicely for the scheduled June 11 opening of Points West Living Lac La Biche. Most of the new employee care partners have been on site for intensive orientation for the last two weeks of May, and the new GM is giving tours of the brand new building to prospective residents and their families.

Meet Debbie Menard

Debbie Menard (right in above photo) is the new General Manager for PWL Lac La Biche, and she took a moment amid the delivery of furniture and appliances, phone calls, human resources management, and inter-agency meetings to update us on Point West Living’s newest community; and to share a little bit about herself.

Debbie has lived in Lac La Biche County all of her life, most of it around Plamondon, a tiny community, 30-kilometres west of Lac La Biche. She now lives on an acreage with her husband, a dog, three cats and two of her three working kids. Since those kids are now adults, the family no longer keeps horses and llamas. Debbie says she has a big yard and does a lot of flower and vegetable gardening. That and spending as much summer time as possible at the family’s lakefront camp on Lac La Biche.

Passion for person-centred service

Debbie’s first career was in social work, where she worked for fifteen years, transitioning into human resources for ten years. “I’m a lifelong learner,” she says, “and ‘person-centred’ service is my passion.”

She’s excited to start welcoming residents on June 11. She says, “I look forward to being part of the team that makes this community a true home for residents so they and their families also feel like home when they come here.”

To make sure each resident receives a person-centered welcome, only two residents are scheduled to move in on each day. At capacity, PWL Lac La Biche will be home to 49 residents; 40 in Designated Supportive Living (24 of whom will be in memory care), and 9 in Independent Living. 

The heart of the home

Debbie already has a few favourite places around the building. “I really like our entrance. It’s warm and inviting,” she says, “but my favourite is any of the three ‘cottage’ kitchens. They’re homey and exciting with games and activities. It’s the opposite of institutional. They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, and I like to think we have three little hearts here.”

Lac La Biche is about a 215 kilometers northeast of Edmonton, about 230 kilometers ESE of Slave Lake, and 150 kilometers west of Cold Lake.

Photo: General Manager Debbie Menard (right) and Office Administrator Iona Wolstenholme are ready to greet new residents and guests at the reception area of PWL Lac La Biche

More photos at Flickr: PWL Lac La Biche is ready for residents

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