Long-term care homes seeking part of ministry pie for new LTC beds

Long term care (LTC) homes across the province are dotting the i's and crossing the t's on their submissions to the province.

They're applying to the Ministry of Long term Care for funding for new beds, soon to be available.

Last fall the ministry announced it would create 15,000 new LTC beds across the province. The deadline to submit an application is the end of this month.

According to January 2020 statistics from the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), the wait list for initial placement in a long term care home in Sudbury is 786 people. There are 1554 long term care home beds that are available across the community. Most are currently occupied, however the LHINsays an average of 50 people move into long term care home every month.

That's why LTC facilities are jumping at the chance to apply for new funding from the province for more permanent beds.

Finlandia proposal

"The waiting lists are lengthy right now and it has caused a problem in the north," says David Munch, CEO of Finlandia Village in Sudbury.

Among Finlandia's housing options is a 110-bed long term care home.

Munch says they're submitting an application to the ministry asking for 18 additional LTC beds.

"We have the space here, we have the zoning requirements already in place. We have the proper infrastructure in place. So this would just be a very easy expansion for us to facilitate," Munch said.

We're in dire need in the north to add more beds to our community to help support an aging population.- David Munch, CEO of Finlandia Village

Finlandia would be eligible for a maximun of 18 new LTC beds. Munch adds this is due to constraints from construction happening on the campus currently.

He understands that Finlandia won't be the only northern facility to submit a proposal.

"We're in dire need in the north to add more beds to our community to help support an aging population and make sure that when people require the service and the care that we're able to give it to them," he said.

Pioneer Manor: Temporarybeds to permanent beds

The City of Greater Sudbury operates Pioneer Manor, which has 406 permanent beds. But the home also has 27 temporary beds, funded through the LHIN.The city is applying to to make those permanent, ministry-funded spots, as well as adding 11 more.

"It's a lottery system, basically we're putting our name forward and we're hoping that the province will allocate us those 27 beds to guarantee that permanent funding," general manager of community development, Steve Jacques told the Community Services committee last week.

Those 27 beds are funded by the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), which were added to Pioneer Manor about eight years ago during an alternate level of care (ALC) crisis in the community.

During the March 2 meeting, councillors on the committee agreed to submit an application to the ministry for a total of 38 beds.27 would cover the interim or temporary beds with an extra 11 for what Jacques called "insurance."

"We are applying along with many other municipalities and private organizations that are looking for long term care beds," Jacques said.

"In the current climate, I can't foresee those [27 interim] beds being closed or the funding going away," Aaron Archibald, director ofPioneer Manor, told councillors.

"What we are really trying to do here is be strategic to secure permanent funding."

Others Interested

The Board of Directors at Health Science North (HSN), has decided to submit an application to the ministry for LTC beds.

They are unable to comment publicly, however they issued a statement:

"After consultation with long-term care providers in Greater Sudbury, HSN's Board of Directors decided in December to apply for 128 long-term care beds and to support other applications that may be submitted for Greater Sudbury. An increasing number of Ontario hospitals operate long-term care beds. We want to maximize the chances of success for our community.

Irrespective of the organization receiving approval, it's in our collective interest to have more long-term care beds. The number of residents in Greater Sudbury aged 75 or more will grow by 40% in the next decade. Should HSN's application be approved, those beds would be operated by a separate corporation, created by the hospital, and would not be located at the Ramsey Lake Health Centre. A number of site options are available to HSN."

CBC News spoke with a representative from St Joseph's Villa and St Gabriel's Villa in Chelmsford. They are not submitting an application due to staffing constraints with personal support workers.

Meanwhile another long term care facility in Sudbury received approval from the Ministry of Long-Term Care to build a new home for 256 residents.

In an email, a spokesperson for Extendicare York says they "intend to begin construction of this new home on Algonquin Road as soon as confirmation of appropriate Ministry funding is received."

They go on to say Extendicare York "looks forward to enhancing services in the Sudbury community."

What ministry is looking for

The Ministry of Long Term Care (MOLTC) told CBC news that projects will be considered based on how they might meet the needs of a community, which may include proposed programs and services to address the growing complexity and diversity of residents.

Applications will be evaluated on possible projects that could address alternate level of care, wait times and/or population growth.

The allocation of the remaining beds will support the government's objective of increasing system flow to end hallway health care.- Ministry of Long Term Care

The ministry says in just over one year it has already allocated 1,814 news beds and reconfirmed its commitment to build 6,085 previously allocated beds, for a total of 7,889.

"The allocation of the remaining beds will support the government's objective of increasing system flow to end hallway health care,"a spokesperson said in an email to CBC News.

The ministry also says that if an application to obtain permanently funded beds is not approved, the facility may continue to maintain temporary capacity provided that their licence has not expired and that the funding remains available.

The deadline for applications is March 31.