Thunder Bay's St. Joseph's Care Group still waiting on Bethammi decision

Officials with St. Joseph's Care Group in Thunder Bay say they're still waiting on a multi-million dollar decision from the provincial government on the future of the group's Bethammi Nursing Home.

The group is lobbying the province to keep the home open to house more long term care beds. The current plan is for Bethammi to close following the completion of the Hogarth Riverview Manor expansion.

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Vice President Scott Potts said that expansion is slated to be completed either in late summer or early fall, but there's still no word from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care on whether it will approve St. Joe's proposal for Bethammi.

"We think .... we've demonstrated the need and there's support within the [Local Health Integration Network]," he said. "In some respects we believe [there's support] within the ministry as well, but we are waiting for the final decision and approval."

If the province agrees to keep Bethammi open, it would mean about 110 more long term care beds in the city. That would help ease the load on a crowded system, which has meant periods of gridlock at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre over the past few years.

St. Joseph's Care Group is hoping for a decision in the next month or two, Potts said.

"We'd like to know as soon as possible so that we can continue with our planning," he added. "Obviously there's a number of things that we need to put in place if Bethammi is continuing operations."

Potts said there's already funding allocated for 60 of the beds from money set aside for interim spaces. Funding the additional 50 or so beds would cost an additional $3.5 million, he said.