More Long-term care beds are coming to Grey County.
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker and Ontario Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra have announced funding for 32 new long-term care beds in Hanover and a new, 160 bed home in the Town of the Blue Mountains.
For Hanover, Walker and Calandra made the announcement at a virtual media conference this afternoon attended by Hanover Mayor Sue Paterson, Grey County Warden Selwyn Hicks, Revera CEO Tom Wellner and President of Revera Canada JP Cadeau.
The beds will go into The Village Seniors’ Community, a new long-term care home being built in Hanover.
Calandra says in a statement, “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,” adding, “When this new long-term care home is completed it will be a place for 128 local seniors to call home near their friends and families in Hanover.”
The new long-term care home near the Hospital in Hanover will have a total of 128 long-term care beds. Construction is expected to start by Winter 2022. Mayor Sue Paterson says in a statement she’s thrilled with the announcement, explaining, “We have been anxiously awaiting Revera’s construction of a new modern long-term care home in Hanover and now it will become a reality. The 128 bed home will meet the health needs of current and future generations of local seniors. We are most appreciative of the support from MPP Bill Walker and the Minister of Long Term Care.”
In the Town of the Blue Mountains, 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.
A release says, the Town 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.
Meanwhile, Walker’s Office says the announcements are part of the government’s $6.4 billion plan to build roughly 30,000 net new beds by 2028 and 28,000 upgraded long-term care beds.
Walker says, “This is great news for Hanover and our entire community. I want to thank Minister Calandra for his support for these new beds,” said Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker. “This is very exciting day. I’m proud to be part of a government that has taken action on Long-Term Care, both locally in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound and across our great province.”
According to the provincial government, there are now 450 new and 316 upgraded long-term care beds in development or under construction in Grey County. They include the following:
-32 new beds allocated to Revera Inc. announced today, plus 26 new and 70 upgraded beds previously allocated to this home in Hanover;
-160 new beds allocated to The Town of the Blue Mountains, announced today;
-51 new and 77 upgraded beds at a peopleCare home in Meaford;
-91 new and 69 upgraded beds at a Southbridge home in Owen Sound;
-62 new beds at Grey Gables in Markdale; and
-28 new and 100 upgraded beds at Rockwood Terrace in Durham.
The government says its plan is to address issues in long-term care focuses on, “Staffing and care; accountability, enforcement, and transparency; and building modern, safe, comfortable homes for seniors.”