Province pilots project for faster long-term care builds
The Government of Ontario has launched a pilot program that will accelerate the delivery of more than 600 long-term care beds in Mississauga.
The announcement comes just days after the province pledged to spend $1.75 billion to facilitate the construction and renovation of care homes across the province. Its aim is to clear the backlog of more than 38,000 people who are waiting to access long-term care facilities. The money announced on July 15 should create care beds for up to 20,000 of those people waiting.
Meanwhile, the province’s new pilot project, which was announced on July 21, will see Trillium Health Partners, one of Canada’s largest community-based hospital systems, partner with Infrastructure Ontario to build two new long-term care homes that will include 640 new beds.
"Our government won't accept the status quo in long-term care. We made a commitment to seniors and their families to improve the quality of Ontario's long-term care homes, and we intend to follow through," said Premier Doug Ford. "Not only have we recently announced a plan to get shovels in the ground faster on over 120 long-term care projects in our pipeline, but we are also exploring innovative partnerships to get more beds built sooner across the province starting with these two pilot projects in Mississauga."
The province intends to use measures such as modular construction, rapid procurement and the use of hospital lands to deliver construction of the two projects before the end of next year. Traditional procurement and construction methods often see such projects delivered in 36 months.
Trillium Health Partners first proposed its project to build a new health centre in partnership with Heart House Hospice on Speakman Drive in December 2019. The initial concept for the development included one 220-bed long-term care home, a 10-bed residential hospice, and two health services buildings.
The scope of the project was expanded with the July 21 announcement to feature two 320-bed long-term care homes, one hospice, and one health services building.
Trillium Health Partners will work with Infrastructure Ontario to manage the day-to-day construction oversight, monitor commissioning, and report on progress.
“This announcement is exciting news for the residents of Mississauga, in particular our fast-growing seniors population,” said Michelle DiEmanuele, President & CEO of Trillium Health Partners. “It means we can provide faster access to the care people need, right in their own community. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for modern long-term care homes that improve the care, safety and quality of life for our most vulnerable seniors.”
Large urban centres like Mississauga are areas of high service need and have a critical need for additional long-term care capacity, but they are difficult to build in due to issues like land availability and land cost. To overcome land availability and cost challenges, the homes will be built on land already owned by Trillium Health Partners.
"The pilot is bold and innovative and aims to ensure that more seniors get access to modern homes in a fraction of the time," said Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton. "Between 2011 and 2018, just 600 beds were added to Ontario's long-term care system — that's less than one bed per home."