
Image: Huron County Courthouse
Huron County Council received a report about the changing landscape for the region’s long term care homes.
The report contained data from consultations and recommendations as to whether there was a need for two homes in the county, Huronview and Huronlea.
The report shares four main recommendations from a committee dated June 22, 1988, and including an addition to the Huronview site that would be a one-storey complex containing 8 units of 20 multi-purpose beds, that the Huronview site should be the central base for satellite homes for the aged, and should the need arise later on, there should be an additional satellite home constructed in the southern part of Huron County.
Huronlea and Huronview were established in 1993, and over the past 30 years, the needs of local long-term care facilities have changed.
Director of the county’s Homes for the Aged, Connie Townsend says that because incoming residents are staying at home longer, their stay within Huronview or Huronlea is shorter than before.
New residents are now typically older and no longer able to manage some of their daily tasks themselves.
The county’s homes are also seeing more complex care needs, residents with multiple chronic health conditions, and end-of-life care needs upon their admission to the residences, and a shorter length of stay.
Local long-term care facilities are also seeing staffing challenges. From May 2022 to May 2023, the homes hired 243 staff members but also saw a turnover rate of 30%.
Due to those staffing shortages, the facilities have needed to rely on agency staffing in order to compensate, to the cost of $1.2 million for Huronlea, and $2 million for Huronview.
It was also found that Huron County has an aging population with a higher percentage of seniors than the provincial average.