Ontario is in the midst of a plan aimed at creating 30,000 new long-term care beds by 2028. This plan comes after reports in 2020 of the horrible conditions in long-term care at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a June 2022 Public Health Ontario report, more than 4,500 long-term care residents have died since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Ford government has provided a list of the following projects now under construction across Ontario:
- The Temiskaming Lodge in Temiskaming Shores to build 46 new long-term care beds and upgrade 82 long-term care beds
- The Extendicare Sudbury project to up-grade 256 long-term care beds
- The Runnymede Healthcare Centre in Toronto to build 200 new long-term care beds
- The Stoneridge Manor project in Carleton Place to build 68 new long-term care beds and upgrade 60 long-term care beds
- The Golden Plough Lodge redevelopment project in Cobourg to build 29 new long-term care beds and upgrade 151 long-term care beds
- The Ritz Lutheran Villa project in Mitchell to upgrade 128 long-term care beds
- The Linhaven Long-Term Care Home project in St. Catharines to build 13 new long-term care beds and upgrade 226 long-term care beds
- The Gilmore Lodge project in Fort Erie to upgrade 160 long-term care beds
- Maple View Lodge in Athens to build 132 new long-term care beds
- Generations project in Toronto to build a new 122-bed long-term care home
Global News reports that the following long-term care projects are in the planning stage in Ontario:
- Schlegel Villages will build 640 new long-term care beds in Oakville using government surplus lands
- The Northern Heights Care Community project in North Bay will build 12 new long-term care beds and upgrade 148 long-term care beds
- The Golden Manor project in Timmins will build 15 new long-term care beds and upgrade 177 long-term care beds
- The St. Joseph's Health Centre Guelph expansion project will build 160 new long-term care beds
News Ontario states that the government is fixing long-term care to ensure Ontario's seniors get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve both now and in the future. This work is built on these three pillars:
- Staffing and care
- Accountability, enforcement and transparency
- Building modern, safe, comfortable homes for seniors
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 a 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 of 2019.
As of June 2022, more than 39,000 people were on the waitlist to access a long-term care bed in Ontario. The median wait time is 120 days for applicants to be placed in long-term care.
