A major roadblock to the redevelopment of Northern Ontario's District Homes for roughly 1,000 residents and another 600 or so on wait lists has been removed.
As rare as this sounds, it's a result of Liberal, Progressive Conservative and NDP MPPs working together.
They adopted a motion that provides a way to proceed with the redevelopment of the eight legacy long-term care homes operated by the Five District Homes in Northern Ontario including Cassellholme in North Bay.
It allows District Homes to be mortgagees in their own right and thereby able to proceed with the homes' redevelopment as mandated by the Ontario Government.
The amendments must be approved by the Legislature at Third Reading, but since all parties supported them in Committee there is every expectation they will be passed.
"One of the key steps in moving forward with the Cassellholme redevelopment was passed yesterday in the Ontario Legislature which will allow Casselholme the ability to borrow the needed redevelopments funds independently from the member municipalities and especially the City of North Bay," City Councillor and Deputy Chair of Cassellholme Chris Mayne told BayToday.
"As this was an amendment at the committee level which required all-party support to proceed we would like to thank the Provincial Government, the NDP and our own MPP Vic Fedeli for their hard work and support to seek this approved.
"While funding and financing will still be major issues to address, the approval of the ability to borrow means that the Cassellholme Board can proceed to call for tenders early in the new year and then, subject to municipal partner approvals of the final business case, begin the actual construction," added Mayne.
District Homes are unique to Ontario’s North.
They are long-term care homes that have been voluntarily established and financially supported by two or more municipalities and operate on a not-for-profit basis. They are separate, legal entities from the municipalities and are run by Boards of Management comprised of representatives of the participating municipalities.
"This change is a tremendous step forward. It recognizes how distinct and unique the District Homes are and the important role that we play, and must continue to play, in northern communities," stated Jacques Dupuis, CEO of Au Château, a District Home in Sturgeon Falls.
"Without all-party support, the motion could not have been even considered by the Committee", explained Mayne. "While funding and financing will still be major issues to address, the approval of the ability to borrow means that the Casselholme Board can proceed to call for tenders early in the new year and then, subject to Municipal partner approvals of the final business case, begin the actual construction."
"We are very grateful to the Liberal, Progressive Conservative and NDP members of the Standing Committee and to Minister of Health Eric Hoskins' and his staff for putting the interests of the citizens of Northern Ontario first," stated Jamie Lowery, CEO of North Bay District Home, Cassellholme.
The District Homes appeared before the Standing Committee to explain that without the amendments to the Long-Term Care Homes Act, the redevelopment and expansions of the five District Homes that have been mandated by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to happen by 2025 simply would not have been possible.
"Under the existing legislation, any long-term financing or any borrowings over 15 per cent of our annual budget has to be raised by the participating municipalities," explained Mayne.
"Our participating municipalities fully support redevelopment and already contribute financially through the annual levies they pay to their District Homes. The municipalities have made it abundantly clear, however, that carrying mortgages for the redevelopments is unworkable, given the many other capital projects planned that are central to their municipal mandates.”
Casselholme in North Bay is the most advanced in its redevelopment plans and will now proceed full steam ahead. The other District Homes have been watching and will now be able to firm up their own plans and some additional plans for new construction to address the wait lists. The wait lists for all the District Homes now exceed 600 and in North Bay General Hospital alone there are 36 patients waiting for an opening in a long-term care home.
The District Homes' written Submission to the Standing Committee on General Government that explains in detail the need for the amendments can be seen here.
Long-term care homes are a responsibility of the provincial government. Northern Ontario, according to the 2016 Census, has the greatest percentage of seniors and the largest aging population of any other region of the province.
