*The following press release was issued by the Province of Ontario and has been posted to the Town of The Blue Mountains website for information.
Innovative partnership with the Town will protect our progress by bringing much-needed beds to the area
GREY COUNTY — The Ontario government is adding 160 new beds in a new long-term care home in The Town of the Blue Mountains in Grey County. This is part of the government’s $6.4 billion commitment to build more than 30,000 net new long-term care beds by 2028 and 28,000 upgraded beds across the province.
“Our government has a plan to fix 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. “This home is made possible through an innovative partnership with the Town of The Blue Mountains and when it is completed it will be a place for 160 local seniors to call home, near their family and friends.”
The new 160-bed long-term care home is proposed to be part of a community campus of care focused on healthy seniors’ living, which includes commercial space, multi-residential space, seniors’ housing, and attainable housing for staff working to support the campus of care. The Town of The Blue Mountains is expected to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for proponents interested in developing and operating the different components of the campus, including the long-term care home, on municipally-owned land in 2022. Construction is expected to start by summer 2024 and the home is expected to open by the end of 2026.
Typically, those wishing to operate long-term care homes submit applications through the call-for-applications process. In this case, working with The Blue Mountains, the Ministry is allocating the 160 beds prior to the Town identifying a licensee. Once the Town selects an operator for the proposed home, the ministry will review the project in the same manner as all other applications.
There are now a minimum of 388 new and 316 upgraded long-term care beds that are in development or under construction in Grey County, including the following projects:
- 160 new beds in a new long-term care home in The Blue Mountains announced today;
- 32 new beds allocated to The Village Seniors' Community announced today, plus 26 new and 70 upgraded beds previously allocated to this home in Hanover;
- 51 new and 77 upgraded beds at Meaford Long Term Care in the Municipality of Meaford;
- 91 new and 69 upgraded beds at Southbridge Owen Sound in the City of Owen Sound; and
- 28 new and 100 upgraded beds at Rockwood Terrace Home for the Aged in the Town of Durham.
The government has a plan to fix long-term care and 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.
QUOTES
Alar Soever, Mayor, Town of The Blue Mountains - “On behalf of the Town of The Blue Mountains, we are incredibly pleased to be working with the Ministry of Long-Term Care on this project. The provisional allocation of long-term care beds will be the cornerstone of the Campus of Care project. I want to thank Minister Calandra, Premier Ford, and his cabinet for granting these provisional beds to our community. The Town is actively working to go through the process of making the land available and initiating the selection of a private sector partner to develop the site and own, manage and operate the long-term care facilities. This is a new and innovative partnership opportunity with the Ministry to source qualified private sector operators and will allow us to attract partners to move the Campus of Care project forward. It is well known that outcomes are better for seniors when they can age in place surrounded by their family and friends.”
QUICK FACTS
- With the approval of this project, Ontario now has 21,709 new and 17,046 upgraded beds in the development pipeline - which means more than 72 percent of the 30,000 net new beds being delivered are in the planning, construction and opening stages of the development process.
- Ontario plans to invest an additional $3.7 billion, beginning in 2024-25, on top of the historic $2.68 billion already invested, to support this new series of allocations for the development of 10,000 net new and more than 12,000 upgraded beds across the province. These historic investments would bring the total to $6.4 billion since spring 2019.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Visit Ontario's website to learn more about how the Province continues to protect Ontarians from COVID-19.
2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Build Ontario
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Vanessa De Matteis
Office of the Minister of Long-Term Care
Vanessa.DeMatteis@ontario.ca
Ministry of Long-Term Care Media Line
Communications Branch
MLTC.Media@ontario.ca
ontario.ca/ltc-news
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