The Grey County administration building in Owen Sound. (file photo)
Grey County council isn’t interested in spending to learn more about a new provincial program to renovate old long-term care homes.
A motion introduced by Owen Sound Deputy Mayor and County Coun. Scott Greig passed during last Thursday’s council meeting, striking down a recommendation from the county’s long-term care committee to spend $30,000 to extend the scope of project management consulting firm Colliers’ work to also investigate a renovation option for the existing Rockwood Terrace building in Durham.
“I am completely in line with continuing our obligation and our excellent service provision for the beds we currently have … but there is absolutely no way I can support further looking at $30,000 to expand the scope of a study to come back and tell us what we should already know sitting around this table,” Greig says. “We cannot compete with the private sector. And this is not something we should be doing.”
The county is currently constructing a new, $96-million, 128-bed long-term care home in Durham which is expected to open in 2027. It is also starting to examine options for the current building when it is no longer in use.
Re-developing the current Rockwood Terrace as a long-term care home, or transitioning it into an assisted living facility, affordable housing or continuum of care site were some potential uses shared in a report to the long-term care committee last month. The estimated cost of those options is between $39-million and $47-million.
Selling or leasing the building in its current condition are also options for the county.
No decisions have been made yet. The county’s process for considering next steps for the building is still in the preliminary stages.
In June, the Ford government announced a new renovation program for long-term care homes, which aims to “upgrade older long-term care homes so they meet current or adapted design standards.”
The government release says the program also supports repurposing existing buildings — including closed former long-term care homes — for long-term care use.
The province’s renovation program will provide long-term care operators funding to renovate existing or vacant buildings that could become a long-term care home.
“If the province is so hell-bent on doing this, they can put the $30,000 in the bucket. And they can fund the new beds,” Grey County Deputy Warden and Southgate Mayor Brian Milne says. “And they can also try to find staff, good staff that we have. There’s not many of them, because they’re hard to find. But we’ve got good staff.”
“I’m not sure there’s a supply of good staff to fund another facility of this nature,” Milne continues.
Grey County currently operates three long-term care homes: Lee Manor in Owen Sound, Grey Gables in Markdale and Rockwood Terrace in Durham — the latter is being redeveloped into a new facility.
In all, the county currently operates 316 long-term care beds through its three facilities. Councillors were told during their meeting last Thursday the cost per bed to the county levy is about $28,000 annually.
“I agree with my friends across the horseshoe in regards to the amount of money Grey County is spending on long-term care. I fully support the money we are spending. It’s important. We’re doing a bang-up job. Our elderly are well taken care of in our homes. And if I had to place a loved one in a home, I’d be hoping to get a county bed,” Mackey says. “That being said, I don’t think we can afford to keep going with anymore, whether it be Grey Gables expansion, or a (redevelopment) of the old (Rockwood Terrace). I just don’t think we can afford it, with all the other budget constraints we’re going to have.”
Mackey, who sits on the county’s long-term care committee, says the additional spend for the expanded scope of work by project management consultants Colliers was simply to provide the next Grey County council with the best information to make the best decision on how to handle the old Rockwood Terrace building.
“We know we’re going to have a vacant Rockwood Terrace and we have to make some decisions on it,” Mackey says. “It’s going to cost us a fair amount of dollars a month to keep that place empty, with security and heating.”
“The long-term care committee of management just wanted to make sure the new council has all of the information to make the best informed decision.”