A new personal care home in Southlands has officially welcomed its first residents.

Westbury Estates, operated by Fort Amherst Healthcare, has 90 units and is the first personal care home in the area. Currently, eight residents are living in the facility.

Amherst Healthcare President Mike Powell says development was a challenge with COVID-19.

He says keeping the site going in a safe way, on top of supply chain interruptions, was difficult but he credits their team of engineers with getting them through it.

Westbury’s first resident, Gertrude Ryan, says after her heart attack, her son was unable to meet her specific needs so they began looking for a place.

She says she could no longer take care of herself and needed a place where her needs of being in a wheelchair would be taken care of, along with a place that felt like home. She says Westbury is that place.