Napanee included as province commits $933M to long-term care projects

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NAPANEE — The towns of Napanee and Madoc will see new long-term care facilities, each to be built with 128 beds.

“These projects are important additions to our two counties, and I’ve been proud to advocate for both of them to bring these much-needed beds to Madoc and Napanee,” Hastings—Lennox and Addington MPP Daryl Kramp said during a video news conference on Thursday afternoon.

“A lot of people have worked for this moment, and many more people will benefit from these new facilities in the coming decades. I salute all involved.”

The Napanee project will be built by Lennox and Addington County General Hospital on its campus and the Clare McFaul Long-Term Care home in Madoc will be a modern campus of care setting on a 6.5-acre site beside a 60-acre conservation area.

“I’m very very happy,” Wayne Coveyduck, chief executive officer for the Lennox and Addington County General Hospital, said. “There were times that we thought that we were too small, that nobody would recognize us for the possibilities that we see, so we could have easily called it a day, but we were committed to this.”

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When asked how long it would take to see construction start on the Napanee facility, Coveyduck said that if all goes well with the ministry, he’d like to see it start this year rather than next year.

“We’re very pleased to see this announcement,” Napanee Mayor Marg Isbester said. “The need (for long-term care support) just keeps growing.”

The province is investing $933 million in 80 new long-term care projects, which will lead to thousands of additional new and upgraded long-term care spaces across the province.

“From the beginning of this pandemic, our government has made it clear that we will do whatever it takes to protect our long-term care residents,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a news release on Thursday. “These historic investments will provide our seniors with the safe and modern living spaces they deserve, after decades of neglect and underinvestment by previous governments.”

In addition to modernizing the long-term care sector, the projects will add 7,510 new spaces and upgrade 4,197 spaces, helping to reduce waitlists and end hallway medicine.

The announcement is said to move the government a step closer to fulfilling its commitment to add 30,000 long-term care spaces over 10 years.

According to the province, as of December 2020, more than 40,000 people were on a waitlist to access a long-term care bed, so with this new allocation, Ontario will now have 20,161 new and 15,918 redevelopment long-term care spaces in the development pipeline.

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“Our most vulnerable deserve the support they need when they need it in a setting that provides comfort and caring,” Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, minister of long-term care, said. “Today’s investment is part of the government’s comprehensive plan to modernize long-term care for generations to come. It will increase access to long-term care, reduce waitlists and ease hospital capacity pressures.”

The investment also looks to support key government priorities, including providing new spaces for Indigenous, francophone and other cultural community residents.

“While COVID-19 threatens us all, it is the residents and staff in our long-term care homes who have suffered the most,” Peter Bethlenfalvy, minister of finance and president of the Treasury Board, said. “Ontario’s 2021 budget will build on our commitment to protect our seniors and provide the highest quality of care for loved ones when and where they need it. That includes the creation of new and upgraded long-term care spaces.

“These most recent allocations will result in a development pipeline of 20,161 new spaces — representing more than two-thirds of the government’s commitment to build 30,000 new beds by 2028 — as well as 15,918 upgraded spaces.”

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