SOUTHAMPTON — Construction is underway at Southampton Care Centre, a redeveloped long-term care home in Southampton. 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 Southampton Care Centre on their ground-breaking for an upgraded, modernized home. 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 marks a significant milestone. When the building is completed, 160 residents in Bruce County will have a new place to call home, near their family and friends.”
The new 160-bed home will be built on the existing site of Southampton Care Centre and will provide 49 new and 111 upgraded beds in private and standard rooms. The new building will feature design improvements, including larger resident common areas and air conditioning throughout the home. The design is centred around five ‘resident home areas’, each of which creates a more intimate and familiar living space with dining and activity areas, lounges and bedrooms for up to 32 residents. The redevelopment of Southampton Care Centre is expected to be completed and welcoming its first residents by spring 2026.
In addition to projects like Southampton Care Centre, Ontario is building another long-term care home in Kincardine. Together, these two projects will provide Bruce County with 76 new and 212 upgraded long-term care beds, for a total of 288 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 Southampton Care Centre. 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 April 2023, more than 40,000 people were on the waitlist to access a long-term care bed in Ontario. The median wait time is 123 days for applicants to be placed in long-term care.
Quotes
“The ground-breaking for the new Southampton Care Centre is tremendous news for the communities in Saugeen Shores. This new build demonstrates our government’s continued commitment to modernizing long-term care and ensuring seniors in the area have access to the very best care.”
– Lisa Thompson
MPP for Huron—Bruce
“The success of our long-term care home has been built on the longstanding support and relationships of the broader Southampton community. A redeveloped, state-of-the-art home for 160 residents will ensure that we may continue to respond to the increasing care needs of future generations of seniors near to their home.”
– Brenda Ohm
Administrator, Southampton Care Centre
SOURCE Province of Ontario
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