海角社区官网

With its closure, White Eagle will become the fifth long-term-care home in 海角社区官网to shut its doors since 2022, bringing the total number of lost beds in the city to 524 by the Star鈥檚 count.

Seniors’ advocates say some of these closures are part of a developing trend in which nursing-home owners, faced with costly provincial requirements to meet modern design standards, may choose instead to sell the properties to capitalize on the city鈥檚 sky-high real estate values.

In the case of White Eagle, Chartwell says it plans to sell the property and expects it will be redeveloped for alternative residential use.

A Star analysis of long-term-care-home licensing data published earlier this month found that a total of 31 海角社区官网facilities, both for-profit and non-profit, are set to see their licences expire in the summer of 2025. While the Ministry of Long-Term Care has for many of these nursing homes, the fate of a handful is unclear.

This has Laura Tamblyn Watts, an advocate for the rights of older Canadians, concerned for the well-being of seniors who are being displaced from the homes they may have lived in for many years.

鈥淲hen you lose a long-term-care home, you are closing not just a place where people live. For our most vulnerable citizens, they鈥檙e losing their health care, they鈥檙e losing their housing, and they鈥檙e also losing their community,鈥� said Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, a national seniors鈥� advocacy organization. 鈥淲hen long-term-care homes close, what residents lose is far more than a roof over their head. They lose their entire way of life.鈥�

She also notes that the loss of more than 500 long-term-care beds in 海角社区官网alone threatens the provincial government鈥檚 $6.4-billion plan to create 31,000 new beds and upgrade another 28,000 built to out-of-date standards within the next four years.

鈥淵ou need to have both the long-term-care homes we have now and expansion, not one or the other,鈥� she said.聽

Toronto鈥檚 long-term-care bed waiting list sits at nearly 38,000, while the province-wide wait-list is more than 44,000.

Ontario鈥檚 newly appointed Minister of Long-Term Care, Natalia Kusendova-Bashta 鈥� the fifth minister to helm the portfolio in five years 鈥� did not respond to the Star鈥檚 questions about the closure of White Eagle or other homes.聽

A ministry spokesperson told the Star the province has provided an additional $200 million in direct funding to homes to make needed capital improvements that have been delayed due to the pandemic and that the province 鈥渋s in regular and ongoing contact with operators to address the unique individual needs of homes to ensure continuity of care for all residents.鈥�

But for many long-term-care homes, particularly smaller, non-profit facilities, undertaking required upgrades before their licences expire next year, seems increasingly like an insurmountable task. These upgrades include converting four-bed ward rooms to spaces that accommodate no more than two residents, making all washrooms fully wheelchair accessible and installing non-slip floors.聽

Already, the LaPointe-Fisher Nursing Home in Guelph and Mount Nemo Christian Nursing Home in Burlington have said they plan to close because they will be unable to meet the Jan. 1, 2025, deadline to install sprinkler systems, representing a loss of an additional 153 beds in the province.聽

To date, the homes in 海角社区官网that have closed or are closing are: Vermont Square (130 beds); Cedarvale Terrace (218 beds); Garden Court Nursing Home (45 beds); North Park Nursing Home (75 beds); and White Eagle (56 beds).聽

In total, that鈥檚 677 beds lost provincewide in the last three years that the Star is aware of.聽

Juha Mynttinen, executive director of Suomi-Koti Toronto, a seniors鈥� centre that serves the Finnish-Canadian community, says to retrofit the facility鈥檚 nursing home so that it meets new provincial design standards would require an additional 12,000 sq. ft. of building at a cost of $55 million 鈥� neither space nor money Suomi-Koti has.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to happen. In our case, even if we were ready to hit the ground, it would be impossible to be ready by next summer鈥� when the home鈥檚 licence expires, said Mynttinen, noting that the building, located in Leaside on Eglinton Ave. East near Laird Dr., was already enlarged when a seventh storey was added in the 1990s to house the long-term-care facility.聽

鈥淏asically we鈥檙e landlocked, so it鈥檚 a difficult situation,鈥� Mynttinen said.聽

The home has asked the province for a licence extension, and Mynttinen added that he is confident it will be granted for the time being.聽

鈥淚 just can鈥檛 see the ministry closing a home down in the middle of 海角社区官网with the shortage of beds,鈥� he said.聽

At White Eagle last Friday afternoon, the Star met Eileen, whose 90-year-old brother is a resident of the home. (Eileen requested that her last name be withheld from publication to protect her brother鈥檚 privacy).

She says she is concerned for residents like her brother, who suffers from dementia and uses a wheelchair, who are being forced to move after some have developed friendships.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a little community and they probably won鈥檛 be able to be together again, including with the staff,鈥� Eileen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an unfortunate situation for all concerned.鈥�