Redeveloped homes will bring 416 much-needed long-term care beds to the province
Construction is underway at Marianhill Nursing Home in Pembroke and Extendicare Peterborough in Peterborough. This is part of the Ontario government’s $6.4 billion commitment to build more than 30,000 new beds by 2028 and 28,000 upgraded long-term care beds across the province.
“Congratulations to Marianhill and Extendicare Peterborough on their ground-breakings for two redeveloped long-term care homes. Our government is fixing long-term care and a key part of that plan is building modern, safe and comfortable homes for our seniors,” said Paul Calandra, Minister of Long-Term Care. “Today’s construction starts represent significant milestones. When these two projects are completed, 416 residents will have a new place to call home, near their family and friends.”
The redevelopment of Marianhill in Pembroke will be completed in three phases. The first phase is expected to start welcoming its first new residents in winter 2025, and the final phase welcoming residents in summer 2026. Once complete, the home will provide 160 modern long-term care beds in Pembroke and offer enhanced services for residents who need dementia care, behavioural supports and palliative care.
The development project for Extendicare Peterborough includes a new 256-bed building that is expected to welcome its first residents in fall 2025.
Both homes will feature design improvements, including larger resident common areas and air conditioning in all resident rooms. Both designs are centred around ‘resident home areas’ to create more intimate and familiar living spaces for up to 32 residents, with dining and activity areas, lounges and bedrooms.
The ministry’s Not-For-Profit Loan Guarantee Program is enabling the redevelopment of Marianhill. Securing capital development loans has been a long-standing barrier faced by the not-for-profit long-term care sector. The program helps unlock lending and reduces borrowing costs for eligible non-municipal, not-for-profit long-term care development projects – and ensures that Ontario’s seniors will have access to a range of choices for their long-term care needs.
In addition to projects like Marianhill and Extendicare Peterborough, Ontario is supporting another 10 projects in Renfrew and Peterborough Counties, for a total of 1,484 beds built to modern design standards.
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. The plan is built on four pillars: staffing and care; quality and enforcement; building modern, safe and comfortable homes; and connecting seniors with faster, more convenient access to the services they need.
Quick Facts
- The Ontario government is on track to build 30,000 much-needed new long-term care beds in the province by 2028, and is redeveloping older beds to modern design standards. Through a $6.4 billion investment, Ontario has 31,705 new and 28,648 upgraded beds in the planning, construction and opening stages of the development process. This will help increase overall bed capacity, address long-term care waitlists and hallway health care, and provide our seniors with the care they deserve.
- Building more modern, safe and comfortable homes for our seniors is part of the Government of Ontario’s Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021.
- The province is taking innovative steps to get long-term care homes built, including modernizing its funding model, selling unused lands with the requirement that long-term care homes be built on portions of the properties, and leveraging hospital-owned land to build urgently needed homes in large urban areas.
- The Ontario government is providing a supplemental increase to the construction funding subsidy to stimulate the start of construction by August 31, 2023 for more long-term care homes across the province, including Marianhill and Extendicare Peterborough. Not-for-profit homes have the option to receive a portion of the funding as an up-front construction grant payable at the start of construction. The supplemental increase is part of the funding for long-term care home development.
- As of February 2023, more than 39,000 people were on the waitlist to access a long-term care bed in Ontario. The median wait time is 130 days for applicants to be placed in long-term care.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
