The Chief Executive Officer of HavenGroup in Steinbach says the Rest Haven nursing home has been approved for a further safety improvement. David Driedger outlines what will be happening.

"We're pleased that Manitoba Health has approved phase two of the fire sprinkler installation at Rest Haven. Phase two will involve all the non-resident care areas. That includes the dining room, chapel, multi-purpose room, the dietary kitchen and support service areas."

The work is scheduled to start in early September with completion by mid to late October. Driedger says this will cause some temporary changes in the delivery of services in the personal care home.

"In the interim, we will have to have some changes to how we do meal delivery, how we work around hair care and how we run some of our programming beyond that."

Driedger notes, when doing a retrofit installation like this, some of the piping for the sprinkler system will remain exposed.

"Most of it will be exposed in the larger open areas and then, in some of the service areas, it will be hidden."

The cost of the project is just over $300,000. Driedger adds this follows an $800,000 dollar expenditure last year to install sprinklers in the residential part of the building.

"This will bring to the completion the fire sprinkler installation required for a personal care home. It positions us well for things, should we have other projects going forward."