GUYSBOROUGH — With eight new modular housing units designated for healthcare workers only days away from arriving in the community of Guysborough, applications for occupancy are open, says the Housing Trust of Nova Scotia (HSTN).
But it won’t be “first come, first served,” said Executive Director Angela Bishop in an interview with The Journal last week. “The important thing that we need to do is spend time with the local healthcare facilities to understand if there are specific, certain occupations that we ought to prioritize to fill need in the community.”
According to an announcement sent to 22 staff and elected reps of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG), Nova Scotia Health, provincial and federal officials, and The Journal on Oct. 2, the two one-bedroom and six two-bedroom units in Guysborough are expected to be on site on former municipal land at Cutler’s Brook Estates this month. Residents are encouraged to complete an eligibility form on the HTNS website.
At the same time, it said, “Completing the form and any future application does not guarantee that you will receive a unit. Rentals to certain occupations within the healthcare sector may be given priority based on the needs of the local healthcare providers.”
That, Bishop explained, is consistent with the mandate of the HTNS-administered project finalized for the MODG last year as part of the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s province-wide $20 million Housing for Healthcare Initiative to provide affordable homes for health workers – anyone from doctors to kitchen staff – in communities where recruitment and retention is challenging.
“We have two different lenses,” she said. “One focus is on the right [occupants] to meet the needs of the healthcare setting. The other is to provide at least 50 per cent of our units to folks who may have challenges meeting area market rents... If doctors or RNs are able to pay market rents, for example, it’s our wish that we also house people who might otherwise have a really difficult time with paying [that].”
She added that while residents who meet the criteria are eligible for consideration, so are prospective healthcare hires from outside the municipality.
“If the local hospital says they have four RNs who will move here and the best choice for the community is that they arrive, then the best choice is that they are housed [in this way],” she said. “We want as much as possible to work with the people on the ground to understand the need.”
Some site work still needs to be completed before the units can be occupied in early 2025, and the HTNS expects to “reach out” to eligible candidates on the waitlist “once dates for occupancy are confirmed,” at which point, “applicants will go through a formal rental application process,” the announcement said.
Meanwhile, it noted that a similar project in Canso “will commence soon, but the modular two one-bedroom and two two-bedroom units are not expected on site at this time. Updates will follow as work progresses.”
Last April, Bishop told The Journal that, while the homes are officially designated for healthcare workers and professionals, “the only requirement for us, I suppose, is that they are rented. So, we wouldn’t hold a unit vacant for six months waiting for a healthcare worker. We would look for another skilled worker.”
The houses, designed by Supreme Homes of New Brunswick, should “fit well” into the communities, she said at the time. “We’re very much focused on creating long-term, permanent housing that people would be happy to make their home.”
