The Ontario government is adding 364 new and 84 upgraded beds at three new long-term care homes in the Waterloo Region. This is part of the government's $6.4 billion commitment to build more than 30,000 new beds by 2028 and about 28,000 upgraded long term care beds across the province.
Cambridge Today states that the long-term beds will be located at the following locations:
Schlegel Villages' The Village of Winston Park in Kitchener
- 12 new and 84 upgraded beds
- Will expand a new building currently under construction
- Will replace the existing home to provide a total of 288 long-term care beds for the community
- Expected to open by 2023
Brand new home in Cambridge operated by peopleCare
- 192 new beds
- Construction expected to start by Spring of 2023
Brand new home in St. Jacobs operated by peopleCare
- 160 new beds
- Construction expected to start by Spring 2023
Announcement by the Ontario government brings the total number of long-term care beds in development or under construction in the Region of Waterloo to 888 new and 597 upgraded beds, which also includes the following projects:
- 97 new and 95 upgraded beds previously allocated to The Village of Winston Park in Kitchener
- 108 new beds at Fairview Mennonite Homes in Cambridge
- 95 new and 97 upgraded beds at Nithview Community Expansion in New Hamburg
- 60 new beds at Trinity Village Care Centre in Kitchener
- 33 new and 95 upgraded beds at Cambridge Country Manor in Cambridge
- 51 new and 114 upgraded beds at Saint Luke's Place in Cambridge
- 80 new and 112 upgraded beds at peopleCare Kitchener
The government has a plan to fix long-term care and to make sure that Ontario's seniors get the quality of care and quality of life they deserve both now and in the future. The plan is built on these three pillars:
- Staffing and care
- Accountability, enforcement and transparency
- Building modern, safe, comfortable homes for seniors
Ontario Newsroom reports that building new long-term care homes and upgrading existing older homes to modern standards is part of the Government of Ontario's Long-Term Care Modernization Plan.
"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. When these projects are completed, three new long-term care homes in the Region of Waterloo will provide a safe, modern, comfortable place for residents to call home, near their family and friends."
Minister of Long-Term Care | Rod Phillips
The Province has issued a new Call for Applications for Long-Term Care Home Development, in order to deliver on its goal of building 30,000 new long-term care beds by 2028. The ministry is evaluating applications received on a rolling basis and will make a series of allocation announcements as decisions are made.
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 this 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.
Ontario now has 20,887 new and 16,120 upgraded beds in the development pipeline - which means more than 69 percent of the 30,000 net new beds being delivered are in the planning, construction and opening stages of the development process.
As of June 2021, more than 38,000 people were on the waitlist to get a long-term bed in Ontario. The median wait time is 163 days for applicants to be placed in long-term care.
