A couple of privately operated long-term care homes are now open to residents in Owen Sound and Meaford.
With the peopleCare Meaford long-term care home and the Southbridge long-term care home in Owen Sound now welcoming residents, they add 288 beds to the area.
An Ontario Government release says the upgrades are 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.
When asked about public money going into private long-term care homes, Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra tells Bayshore Broadcasting News, “Governments of all stripes for a very, very, long time did not make the appropriate investments in long-term care, I think that was very very clear.”
He adds, “When you see the new homes that are being built — and you’ll see these in both Meaford and Owen Sound, and the others that are coming in Durham, Hanover, Markdale and Blue Mountains, these are brand new, modern homes built to modern standards with infection prevention and control already built in. We’re also adding additional nursing capacity and PSW capacity in all of the homes to get us up to four hours of care and we have brought in the toughest standards in North America with the Fixing Long-Term Care Act.”
Calandra says, “We’ve put a real emphasis on building long-term care in smaller communities across the province and we’re doing it for a couple of reasons — because we saw during the pandemic how important it was to have family and friends close by so that they could be there with residents,” adding, “Frankly, it’s also an economic driver in a lot of these smaller communities,”
With regard to additional nursing capacity, Calandra points to a permanent $3 wage enhancement recently introduced by the provincial government, saying, “Even more than that, we’re paying for the training for the PSWs who want to come in, we’re paying for their education. We’re also encouraging, if a PSW wants to upgrade their skills, we’ll pay for that as they go, maybe from a PSW into the different various types of nursing practices that are available. We’re also adding nurse practitioners into many of our long-term care homes. We’re adding social workers allied health professionals into it– so it’s about 27,000 additional healthcare workers that we will be hiring.”
Construction for peopleCare Meaford began in June 2021. The finished home has 51 new and 77 upgraded beds for a total of 128 long-term care beds. It will be operated by peopleCare Communities Inc. According to the provincial government, the operator is also planning to construct retirement living and assisted living at the same site to create ‘a campus of care’ with the goal of enabling residents to continue to live in the same location as their care needs change.
Construction for Southbridge Owen Sound began in December 2020. It now has 91 new and 69 upgraded beds for a total of 160 beds. The home is licensed to CVH (No. 3) LP by its general partner Southbridge Care Homes.
The press release from the provincial government says, 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.
According to the release, the plan is built on three pillars: staffing and care; accountability, enforcement, and transparency; and building modern, safe, comfortable homes for seniors.
Great to visit the new Southbridge Care residence in Owen Sound as it welcomes new residents. Thank you @billwalkerbgos for your work in getting these new LTC Beds for Owen Sound!@PaulCalandra https://t.co/pSyN0l0L7d pic.twitter.com/b1sakIr3DN
— Rick Byers (@rickbyersmpp) December 15, 2022
Great to be on hand for the ribbon cutting and for welcoming the first residents to the peopleCare Communities Long-Term Care home in Meaford! Thanks to @billwalkerbgos for your great work in getting this new facility for our community! @PaulCalandra https://t.co/pSyN0l0L7d pic.twitter.com/nTTXlFRsIl
— Rick Byers (@rickbyersmpp) December 15, 2022