Long-Term Care Home for Ajax ‘within months’

The Ontario government yesterday announced that a new long-term care home will be built at Lakeridge Health’s Ajax Pickering Hospital site in months, not years.

The project is part of the province’s Accelerated Build Pilot Program. By working with Lakeridge Health and Infrastructure Ontario, the province intends to build up to 320 new long-term care beds by 2021 at this site.

The pilot program is part of the government’s plan to create new long-term care beds across the province that include features such as air conditioning and private or semi-private rooms, beginning immediately. The pilot program was launched last week in Mississauga where 640 new beds will be built by 2021, said a media statement.

Details about the new project were provided by Premier Doug Ford who was joined by Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care, Sharon Cochran, Chair of the Lakeridge Health Board of Trustees, John Henry, Regional Chair and Chief Executive Officer for the Regional Municipality of Durham, and Shaun Collier, Mayor of Ajax.

“Government after government failed to make the necessary investments in our long-term care homes and that ends now,” said Premier Ford. “With our new modernized funding model and this innovative pilot program, we will get shovels in the ground faster on these critical projects and ensure more seniors get the quality care they deserve. I won’t rest until every senior in Ontario has a safe and comfortable place to call home.”

Through the use of hospital lands, and a range of accelerating measures such as modular construction and rapid procurement, the government and its partners are targeting completion of the project in 2021, years faster than the traditional timeline. Lakeridge Health will work with Infrastructure Ontario to manage the day-to-day construction oversight, monitor commissioning, and provide timely status reporting on progress, said the statement.

Newcastle’s Parkview Seniors Lodge being expanded

Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster thanked the province for ongoing support and commitment to the community, following yesterday’s announced $2.6 million Ontario investment in Parkview Seniors Lodge expansion.

This will assist in filling a much-needed gap for affordable seniors’ housing in Clarington. The expansion will add 37 new units, of which 30 will be affordable, Foster said.

Additionally, we are happy to hear that our neighbours in Ajax will be getting a new long-term care home by the end of next year. This will add 320 new long-term care beds for the Durham Region, helping to ease the burden on a waitlist that’s twice as long as any other place in Ontario, he said.