The provincial government said they would be making lots of announcements regarding long-term care (LTC) funding and they are certainly living up to that pledge.
True there is an election looming but it’s likely that no nurses, support workers or families desperate for sufficient care of a loved one will complain about the timing. Care of our elders has been a slow-burning issue, that the pandemic and demographic realities have fanned into a full-on wildfire and the funding for new facilities and supports is welcomed relief.
A host of municipal officials and area MPPs including LTC minister Paul Calandra and Markham-Unionville’s Billy Pang were on hand recently to announce that the Ontario government is building three new long-term care homes and adding 608 new long-term care beds in Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville. This is part of the government’s $6.4 billion commitment to build more than 30,000 net new beds by 2028 and 28,000 upgraded long-term care beds across the province.
“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,” Calandra said. “When these three homes in Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville are completed, 800 residents will have a new place to call home, near their family and friends.”
The three new long-term care homes – Mon Sheong Markham, Mon Sheong LTC (Stouffville 2) and Lang Yi Markham – will have a total of 800 long-term care beds. They have proposed to be part of a campus of care which helps integrate the long-term care home into the broader health care system and ensures residents have access to the care they need. The homes have also proposed to provide cultural services to residents of the Chinese, Filipino, and East Asian communities. Construction on the three homes is expected to start between summer 2023 to summer 2024.
There are now 1,568 new and 32 upgraded long-term care beds in development, under construction or completed in Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville, including the following projects:
- 128 new beds allocated to Mon Sheong Markham announced today, plus 192 new beds previously allocated to this project, for a new 320-bed long-term care home to be licensed to Mon Sheong Foundation;
- 256 new beds for Lang Yi Markham, a new long-term care home to be licensed to Lang Yi Villa Non-Profit Living, announced today;
- 224 new beds for Mon Sheong LTC (Stouffville 2), a new long-term care home to be licensed to Mon Sheong Foundation, announced today;
- 256 new beds at Yee Hong Markham II, a new long-term care home to be licensed to Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care;
- 320 new beds at Mon Sheong (Stouffville 1), completed in September 2021 and licensed to Mon Sheong Foundation;
- 32 upgraded beds at Bloomington Cove Care Community in Stouffville, completed in July 2018 and licensed to Sienna Senior Living Inc.; and
- 192 new beds at Schlegel Villages – Stouffville, a new long-term care home to be licensed to Schlegel Villages Inc.
Tim Kwan, Chairman of Mon Sheong Foundation was part of the recent announcement and was understandably pleased.
“Mon Sheong is overjoyed that the Ontario government has allocated more care beds to us,” he said. “With this allocation, Mon Sheong is able to provide 320 care beds at our new Markham Long-Term Care Centre and another 224 beds at our second Stouffville Long-Term Care Centre. Our quality care services will benefit a total of 1,929 seniors, making us one of the largest non-profit long-term care operators in Ontario.”
