Senior care centre naming honours hospitality and Blackfoot tradition

By Lethbridge Herald on September 14, 2022.

Herald photo by Ry Clarke Guests enter the new Buffalo Grace Manor Wednesday in the westside neighbourhood of Garry Station after Covenant Care announced the name for its newest senior care centre.

Ry Clarke – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Covenant Care announced the name for its newest senior care centre in Garry Station Wednesday, which will be known as Buffalo Grace Manor. 

The new facility, located at 446 Aquitania Blvd W, is built for 102 residents to serve those in the community. 

“It’s important to have support for seniors in Alberta,” said Sheli Murphy, president of Covenant Care and Covenant Living. “Our seniors suffer from a great deal of isolation. When they are isolated, they don’t have people to connect with, which adds to their burden of aging. This gives them an opportunity to live together with like-minded people. But also get great support every single day. We give them a sense of purpose in their life, and that’s our true goal to make every day a good day.”

Murphy notes there is room on the grounds for another 96 residents to be added in the future.

The development process took around four and a half years to come together. 

“This facility has been planned for a number of years, but will be opening within the next couple of months. It provides continuing care spaces for residents,” said Patrick Dumelie, CEO of Covenant Care. “We are honoured that the Government of Alberta has entrusted us with this state-of-the-art building. We have built a lot of innovation into it. With comforts for residents focused on their care and their evolution of care, so they can come into this facility with light needs, to very complex needs, without having to change facilities. We build on our tradition of 150 years of that.”

Working with Blackfoot knowledge leaders, Buffalo Grace Manor was named to recognize Blackfoot culture. 

“It’s appropriate given the new facility overlooks a vast prairie landscape where people have traditionally relied on the blessings of the earth,” said Dumelie. “To choose the name Buffalo Grace Manor has a lot of meaning. The buffalo is a sign of strength and a protector in the Blackfoot tradition. The manor speaks of a home, the environment and integrating the landscape. Grace is hospitality, it’s about meeting people where they are and caring for them. Speaking to their independence and quality of life. The three together, Buffalo Grace Manor, really says a lot.”

With construction still underway, the facility will hopefully open to residents in the coming months, working to ensure it meets both living and health standards. 

“This is an amazing facility because it’s built post-COVID,” said Murphy. “We are very mindful of infection practice and control, so that we keep a place going, even in the event that we do have an outbreak in the future.”