New_hope

Jeff Green | Aug 02, 2007

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New hope for Pine Meadow upgrade?

by JeffGreen

Board and senior staff from the non-profit Pine Meadow Nursing Home in Northbrook have been advocating for a major upgrade and expansion to the home for three years, and in the face of repeated rejections from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, they had pretty much abandoned their plans.

The majority of residents live in four-person wards instead of private or semi-private rooms, which are the provincial standard, but with no promise of funding support, a delegation from the home came to North Frontenac Council just two weeks ago looking for County support for some very modest improvements that would not change the basic living conditions of the home’s residents.

But what persistent lobbying failed to accomplish, a provincial election just might be able to bring about, as it was announced this week that the Liberals will be eliminating multi-bed wards through upgrades to older long term care homes.

In a press event at a nursing home north of Belleville, Liberal LFL&A candidate Ian Wilson joined George Smitherman, the Minister of Health, in talking about the implications of the announcement in Eastern Ontario.

If re-elected, the Liberals announced their intention to upgrade 3,500 beds each year for 10 years.

“Many long-term care homes in our area will be redeveloped so that they can provide our residents with the best possible care in the most modern environment,” said Ian Wilson.

The Local Health Integration Networks will establish which projects will go ahead each year.

The media release that accompanied the event included a list of 8 homes that are “being upgraded in Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington”, and the Pine Meadow Nursing Home was the second one on the list.

Officials from Pine Meadow could not be reached for comment before press time.