Ontario is accelerating the development of long-term care homes.
The provincial government has introduced a redesigned funding model that will help speed up construction.
Premier Doug Ford says it’s part of a historic $1.75 billion plan to improve the long-term care sector.
“To kick-start the development of long-term care beds in Ontario. Today’s announcement will result in an estimated nearly 8,000 new long-term care beds and 12,000 redeveloped long-term care beds.”
Ford says the government has pledged 30,000 new beds for the next ten years.
The premier says revamped approach will encourage new beds to be built faster as well as upgrade existing older homes to meet high quality design standards, with features like air conditioning and private or semi-private rooms.
Ford says the new new funding model will help speed up construction by:
-Creating four new regional categories based on geographic location, each with a targeted home size: large urban, urban, mid-size, and rural. An increase to the province’s construction funding subsidy (CFS) will be tailored to each of these four categories, enabling the government to address the barriers and needs of different communities;
-Providing development grants, between 10% and 17% depending on regional category, to cover upfront costs like development charges, land and other construction expenses;
-Helping small operators in rural communities navigate the high cost of development, while ensuring larger urban centres can secure the loans and real estate they need; and
-Increasing funding to incentivize the construction of basic accommodation and continuing top-ups for small and medium sized homes.
Ford stresses ‘We inherited a broken system. A system where tens of thousands of seniors were left on wait lists for beds. A system where seniors are waiting in emergency rooms and hospital hallways.”
