Canada News
Ontario Celebrates the opening of new long-term care homes in Meaford and Owen Sound
Two new long-term care homes bring 288 much-needed beds to the province. (Photo: @rickbyersmpp/Twitter)
MEAFORD — Construction of two new long-term care homes in Grey County has been completed and they are now welcoming residents. This is part of the government’s $6.4 billion commitment to build more than 30,000 net new beds by 2028 and 28,000 upgraded long-term care beds across the province.
Construction for peopleCare Meaford Long Term Care began in June 2021. The finished home provides 51 new and 77 upgraded beds for a total of 128 safe, modern long-term care beds in Meaford. The home is licensed to and will be operated by peopleCare Communities Inc. The operator is planning to construct additional housing at this site in the future, such as retirement living and assisted living, and be part of a campus of care to ensure residents can continue to live in the same location as their care needs change.
Construction for Southbridge Owen Sound began in December 2020 and the finished home now provides 91 new and 69 upgraded beds for a total of 160 safe, modern long-term care beds in Owen Sound. The home is licensed to CVH (No. 3) LP by its general partner Southbridge Care Homes.
“Congratulations to peopleCare Meaford Long Term Care and Southbridge Owen Sound on the openings of their brand new homes. Our government is fixing long-term care and a key part of that plan is building modern, safe, and comfortable homes for our seniors,” said Paul Calandra, Minister of Long-Term Care. “Today marks a significant milestone for Grey County – peopleCare Meaford Long Term Care’s 128-bed home and Southbridge Owen Sound’s 160-bed home mean that 288 residents will have a new place to call home, near their family and friends.”
Both new homes feature design improvements for residents, including private and basic rooms, no ward rooms, larger resident common areas and air conditioning throughout the home. These new homes will help Ontario address the growing demand for long-term care which has increased wait times for beds and contributed to hallway health care.
The government is fixing long-term care to ensure Ontario’s seniors get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve both now and in the future. The plan is built on three pillars: staffing and care; accountability, enforcement, and transparency; and building modern, safe, comfortable homes for seniors.
Quick Facts
- The Ontario government is on track to build 30,000 much-needed net new long-term care beds in the province by 2028, and redeveloping older beds to modern design standards. Through a $6.4 billion investment, Ontario has 31,705 new and 28,648 upgraded beds in the planning, construction and opening stages of the development process. This will help increase overall bed capacity, address long-term care waitlists and hallway health care, and provide our seniors the care they deserve.
- Building more modern, safe and comfortable homes for our seniors is part of the Government of Ontario’s Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021.
- The province is taking innovative steps to get long-term care homes built, including modernizing its funding model, selling unused lands with the requirement that long-term care homes be built on portions of the properties, and leveraging hospital-owned land to build urgently needed homes in large urban areas.
- The Ontario government is providing a supplemental increase to the construction funding subsidy to stimulate the start of construction by August 31, 2023 for more long-term care homes across the province. This includes additional flexibility for not-for-profit homes to receive a portion of the funding as an up-front construction grant payable at the start of construction. More information about funding for long-term care home development is available here.
- As of August 2022, more than 39,000 people were on the waitlist to access a long-term care bed in Ontario. The median wait time is 125 days for applicants to be placed in long-term care.
Quotes
“I am thrilled to see the expansion of long-term care and retirement living here in Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound and would like to express my sincere thanks to Minister Calandra for his great work in supporting these facilities in our community.”
– Rick Byers
MPP for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound
“As a family-owned, values-based organization, peopleCare has a long history of caring for others in the community. We are thrilled to open this larger, modern new long-term care home in Meaford and support more seniors in remaining close to family and friends, while receiving high quality care and services. We sincerely thank Minister Calandra, MPP Byers and the government for continuing to make the needs of Ontario’s aging seniors a top priority and enabling leading operators like peopleCare to increase long-term care capacity where it’s needed most.”
– Brent Gingerich
Chairman and CEO, peopleCare
“The health and safety of our residents is our number one priority. We thank Minister Calandra and the Ministry of Long-Term Care for the opportunity to enhance and prioritize long-term care in Ontario with this new project. We are excited that residents are moving into our new home where they will experience our modern, safe and community-minded approach to living.”
– Ryan Bell
Southbridge Care Homes
