Wintergreene Estates has been planned as a comprehensive retirement community that provides a continuum of services for it’s elderly residents. Wintergreene was developed and built in stages, with Phase 1 opening in 2005 and containing 107 full service retirement suites. Phase 2, opening in July 2011 contains 42 independent living apartments and 36 licensed personal care units located in three, 12 unit households. It is expected that these will open in October/November 2011 pending licensing approval from the Ministry of Health.

The mission of Wintergreene Estates is to provide homes for elderly residents, usually 75 years plus, where they can be as independent as possible for as long as possible, and where each person can live their lives on their terms and in their own unique way.

Our expectation and experience is that older people choose Wintergreene Estates as their home because it allows them to remain independent and in control of their lives while still providing them the support and assistance they need and value. They can age in place and if, and when required or desired, move into a personal care household where they can receive personal support and assistance from trained staff. Although we are applying for one license to accommodate a maximum of 42 people in 36 bedrooms, we in reality, have three distinct self contained households, each with 12 bedrooms, for up to 14 people.

We believe that our 3 Personal Care Households will be unique in Regina. Although there are a number of personal care homes that may be of similar size and may provide the same level of care that will be provided at Wintergreene Estates, we believe that few will have the design, organizational structure, and philosophy of care and services that will be incorporated into the Personal Care Households at Wintergreene Estates.

Each of the Personal Care Households is basically a small home with a full range of personal care and clinical services. It is an intentional community where all systems are designed to support the most positive elder hood and work life possible. To achieve these goals, the personal care household must change the architecture, organizational configuration, staffing patterns and philosophy of care and caring, from what one might find in a typical personal care home.