Niagara long-term care home expansion project approved

Along-term care home in Niagara will soon more than double in size, after receiving government approval for a 160-bed expansion project.

Radiant Care Pleasant Manor announced Friday it received approval from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to move forward with its plan to construct a new long-term care home in Virgil.

The Elden Street home operates 41 licensed beds. It was allocated an additional 81 beds in 2018, and has now been approved for a further 38 spaces, bringing the total to 160.

The new facility, to be built next to the existing home, will be part of a “campus of care” that will provide health and social services to seniors living on site and from the communityat-large, said Tim Siemens, chief executive officer of Radiant Care. The expansion project has been in development for more than 20 years. The current home was built in 1994.

As the original plans called for an 81-bed facility, the project’s architect is now amending the design to include the additional 38 spaces.

“We will bring the new building on stream as soon as we possibly can — and it’s going to be a beauty,” said Glen Unruh, president at Radiant Care.

Radiant Care also owns and operates Tabor Manor longterm care home in St. Catharines. he Ontario government on Friday announced 2,983 long-term care spaces will be created through 29 projects across the province.

The province has committed to adding 5,000 new long-term care beds by 2022 and more than 30,000 new beds over the next decade.

The new spaces are expected increase access to long-term care, reduce wait lists and ease hospital capacity pressures.