Bayfield Manor will have more space for long term care residents.
Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark says 94 new long term care beds will be coming to Bayfield Manor. Currently there are 66 beds and the announcement is part of the government’s plan to add 15,000 new long term care beds in Ontario over the next five years.
Clark says one of the key commitments the government made was to end “hallway healthcare.”
The addition will help ease the pressure at Kemptville District Hospital with the expansion doubling the resident capacity in Bayfield, according to Clark.
Southbridge Care Homes’ Managing Director Keith McIntosh says this expansion will create approximately 100 additional jobs for the community directly within the facility. He says they’ve already acquired additional land and plan on expanding on the current site.
McIntosh says everything will be brand new when they’re done.
“What we hear continuously from families is please don’t move us, we don’t want to move. Rather than moving residents around, what we’re going to do is, we’re going to build an expansion. Move the residents from the existing home into the brand new facility and then renovate or rebuild the existing facility.”
McIntosh adds this will be an almost three year process and they hope to begin late 2019 depending on development agreement approvals, which McIntosh says they believe is imminent.