Ontario providing construction subsidy to long-term care facilities

Yorkregion.com
April 4, 2016
By Amanda Persico and Ali Raza

Ontario says it is investing in the quality of long-term care for seniors.

This morning, assistant health and long term care minister Dipika Damerla announced a long-term care facility in Whitchurch-Stouffville will be getting an upgrade.

More than 30 resident spaces at Bloomington Cove Care Community Centre will be upgraded as part of the province’s plan to upgrade more than 300 long-term care facilities across the province over the next nine years. The money will be provided through a construction subsidy per bed.

"The area being upgraded is Cottage House, home to 31 residents, and I'm delighted it's started and we're well on our way,” said Janet Iwaszczenko, executive director at Bloomington Cove. “Our residents are so deserving of a lovely home with all its conveniences."

“Long-term care homes are not just facilities - they are people’s homes"

Long-term care facilities provide senior adults with daily activities and 24-hour access to nursing and personal care.

The upgrades will include creating a home-like environment in the dining area as well as additional space for rehab and physiotherapy, increased wheelchair access in bedrooms, bathrooms, showers and doorways and more private workspaces for facility staff.

Bloomington Cove, a for-profit facility, is home to 112 residents and is the only licensed long-term care centre dedicated to dementia, Iwaszczenko said. It's located at Ninth Line and Bloomington Road.

"This is a very special long-term care home, I have a real appreciation of the superb care Bloomington Cove gives its residents," Damerla said.

"We can't legislate kindness or a real desire to serve and that's what I see here, for that I want to thank you."

“Long-term care homes are not just facilities - they are people’s homes,” she added. “It is vital that they remain up-to-date to provide residents with secure, safe and comfortable surroundings.”

There are about 78,000 residents in 630 long-term care facilities across the province.

Since 2003, more than 10,000 new spaces have been created and more than 13,500 spaces have been renovated.

“This is welcome news for seniors who rely on long-term care as their ‘home’ when they are no longer able to live independently on their own,” Central Local Health Integration Network CEO Kim Baker said. “With these enhancements, our seniors will benefit from aesthetic improvements in the home as well as accessibility and program space enhancements.”

The province’s long-term care plan also includes provisions for increasing long-term nurse practitioners from 18 to 93 over the next three years.

APPROVED SO FAR

So far the province has six approved projects for a total of 448 beds:

Name of Home / Up to # of Beds
Faith Manor (Brampton) 120
Algonquin Nursing Home (Mattawa) 72
South Centennial Manor (Iroquois Falls) 69
Crown Ridge Place (Trenton) 59
Saugeen Valley Nursing Home (Mount Forest) 96
Bloomington Cove (Stouffville) 32