AJAX — The Ontario government, along with Lakeridge Health, Infrastructure Ontario and PCL Construction, today celebrated the building of a new state-of-the-art long-term care home that will add 320 new beds in Ajax, just 13 months after construction began. This is the first long-term care home developed under Ontario’s Accelerated Build Pilot Program, introduced by Premier Doug Ford, and is part of the government’s $6.4 billion investment to build 30,000 net new long-term care beds by 2028, as well as 28,000 upgraded beds across the province.
“After decades of neglect, our government is saying ‘yes’ to building much-needed long-term care homes as quickly as possible,” said Premier Ford. “I’m very proud to see the first new long-term care home built under our government’s Accelerated Build Pilot program in just 13 months. We heard the call for more long-term care beds for our most vulnerable and Team Ontario is delivering on that promise.”
The new long-term care home, located on the same grounds as Ajax Pickering Hospital, will provide state-of-the-art care and comfort in a modern, safe environment. The home will be part of a campus of care at Lakeridge Health to ensure residents have access to the specialized care they need and access to the broader health care system throughout Durham Region.
“Our government has a plan to fix 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. “This state-of-the-art long-term care home is being completed in record time and will soon be a place for 320 seniors in Durham Region to call home, near their family and friends.”
The Accelerated Build Pilot Program’s innovative approach leverages hospital-owned land and accelerated construction techniques to get shovels in the ground quickly and build urgently needed long-term care homes in large urban areas where scarce and costly land is a significant challenge for prospective developers.
“Investing in long-term care homes like this new state-of-the-art facility in Ajax will provide a modern and safe environment for residents to get the care they need and deserve and for the staff working tirelessly in these homes,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure. “Not only will this enhance the health, safety and well-being of our loved ones, it will also help in the development of local communities across the province. This investment is one of the critical projects our government is investing in, with a budget of more than $148 billion over the next 10 years to build critical infrastructure projects such as long-term care homes, hospitals, schools, public transit, highways and other facilities the people of Ontario depend on.”
The government has a plan to fix long-term care and 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 three pillars: staffing and care; accountability, enforcement, and transparency; and building modern, safe, comfortable homes for seniors.
Quick Facts
- The facility accepted Alternative Level of Care patients on a temporary basis last week, while general long-term care residents are scheduled to move in by March 2022.
- With the completion of this project, Ontario will have 21,709 net new and 17,046 upgraded long-term care beds in the development pipeline – which means more than 72 per cent of the 30,000 net new beds being delivered are in the planning, construction and opening stages of the development process.
- Ontario plans to invest an additional $3.7 billion, beginning in 2024-25, on top of the historic $2.68 billion already invested, to support a new series of allocations for the development of 10,000 net new and more than 12,000 upgraded long-term care beds across the province. These historic investments would bring the total to $6.4 billion since spring 2019.
- The Accelerated Build Pilot Program is adding up to 1,272 net new beds at four new long-term care homes at three sites in the Greater Toronto Area. The government is partnering with three hospitals – Trillium Health Partners (Mississauga), Humber River Hospital (Toronto) and Lakeridge Health (Ajax) – to develop the four new homes on hospital-owned land. Construction of the three remaining homes is underway at the Mississauga and Toronto sites.
- In response to the evolving Omicron situation, the Province has put additional measures in place to protect long-term care residents, staff and caregivers, including making fourth doses of the COVID-19 vaccine available to residents who received their third dose at least three months ago and making a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for staff, students, volunteers, caregivers and support workers mandatory.
Quotes
“Today we are celebrating a tremendous milestone in the construction of this new long-term care home. This new home will benefit all of Durham Region and enables Lakeridge Health to continue our journey to create an integrated, regional system of care and achieve our vision, One System. Best Health. We are also thankful for the continued collaboration with our provincial, municipal, and construction partners over the last 14 months. This collaboration has been critical in completing this project on time and achieving this occupancy milestone.”
– Sharon Cochran
Chair, Board of Trustees, Lakeridge Health
“We are pleased to see the success of the Accelerated Build model on long-term care in Ontario as a solution for urgently-needed infrastructure. This project is a shining example of what good partnerships can achieve. We recognize our partners at the Ministry of Long-Term Care, Lakeridge Health, PCL, the town of Ajax, and the Region of Durham for making this project a reality during a pandemic when government, health care and construction firms were under tremendous pressure.”
– Michael Lindsay
President & CEO, Infrastructure Ontario
“To our design and construction partners, and the hundreds of men and women who have worked tirelessly to build this urgently needed home in record time, thank you for stepping up to the challenge with us to deliver as promised. I’m extremely proud of the role that everyone has played in delivering Ontario’s first Accelerated Build project to achieve occupancy. With a relentless passion among all partners to deliver a shared vision, it’s amazing what can be accomplished. Congratulations to everyone involved!”
– Todd Craigen
President of Eastern Canada, PCL Constructors Canada Inc.
SOURCE Office of the Premier
Leave a Reply