Nursing Home & Assisted Living Complex History of Grand View Manor

Grand View Manor (GVM) was incorporated under the Municipal Housing Corporations Act on July 15th 1969. The registered corporation name was Kings County Senior Citizens Home (KCSCH).

Prior to its incorporation, municipalities were mandated to provide services that include Homes for the Aged. With the financial support of Dr. Lalia Chase, the Municipality of Kingswas able to proceed with this project by appointing its first Board of Directors and applying for incorporation.  The building was officially opened by Honorable Gordon A. Tidman on October 31, 1970.

The Town of Berwick was given top priority as a location because it boasted of a sizable hospital and was able to offer electricity and sewage system (Haskel, H. 1995. The Wagner Years). Complemented with an adjacent land purchase from Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company, KCSCH was able to acquire an adequate piece of land on which to build the Home. Our current Home is now located between the Town of Berwick and Municipality of Kings.

The name Grand View Manor was a spur of the moment, nature-inspired, name. The first Board of Directors advertised that $25 would be awarded to anybody who could come up with the “name”. Suggestions included “Shady Rest” and “Sunset Haven”.

The Board members were becoming frustrated as they reviewed names…..Suddenly, with a sweep of his arm, Board Member Louis Thomas exclaimed, “What a grand view!” (They were meeting in the new solarium with windows overlooking the valley and the North Mountain. He was referring to the fall colours and setting sun at that time) – The Wagner Years

And so the name Grand View Manor was born. Known for its innovative spirit, GVM boasts of the following firsts:

-  The first training course for Nurses’ Aides
    working with seniors, leading to a Certificate
    for Personal Care Worker

-  The first full-time maintenance staff

-  The first qualified dietitian

-  The first organized Activity Department

-  The first Beauty Shop

-  The first, in Eastern Canada, to have an
    apartment complex attached

-  The first to have a senior’s complex, built and
    administered by NS Housing Authority and
    offered services by Grand View Manor

-  The first separate Alzheimer’s and related
    Dementia wing in a home for special care

For over 40 years, GVM only had two administrators prior to the incumbent:  

Richard Wagner (June 1970 – January 1991),

Graham Hardy (January 1991 – March 2013),

and Jorge VanSlyke (March 2013 – present).

And for over 40 years, staff and stakeholders have consistently shown that at Grand View Manor, “Love is (indeed) Ageless”.

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Grand View Manor Values:
Respect   
Integrity   
Excellence