New apartment complex for seniors on Bonaccord
A new six-storey apartment complex about to be built on Bonaccord St. will offer supportive housing for elderly people who might otherwise be staying long-term in hospital.
The new $25-million complex will be built by Peterborough Housing Corp. (PHC) on the large gravel parking lot in front of the McRae Building.
The McRae Building is the vacant Fleming College trade school that PHC is about to convert into 38 apartments for single mothers and their children. It will be connected to the new building via breezeway.
The new building will have 80 apartments for seniors – 50 of which will be staffed with personal support workers (PSWs).
Of those 50 supported-housing apartments, 20 will be reserved for elderly patients living at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) for lack of another place to go.
At a news conference on the site on Tuesday, about 20 people – including Mayor Daryl Bennett and Dr. Peter McLaughlin, president and CEO of PRHC – heard the announcement.
The new seniors’ complex will free 20 hospital beds and offer people a nice home, said McLaughlin.
“This will be a much better place for people to live (than the hospital),” he said.
Brenda Weir, the vice-president of PRHC, said the idea is to have a home for seniors who don’t need the constant medical attention offered in a long-term care home but cannot live in a retirement home (where there are no supports at all).
Peterborough Housing Corp. is the largest social housing provider in Peterborough city and county; the city is its sole shareholder.
It also owns the Woollen Mill on Bonaccord St., a heritage industrial building that’s been converted into an affordable housing complex.
Construction on the new seniors’ building is expected to begin in fall and be done by late 2018 or in 2019.
The conversion of the McRae Building is expected at start at the same time; both buildings will follow a design from local architect Gregg Gordon.
Darlene Cook, the CEO of Peterborough Housing Corp., said her organization will be responsible for coming up with the money for construction.
She said there are federal and provincial grants may be available to help build the new complex.
“The key is, this will be at an affordable price,” she said, adding that it may cost residents $1,100 or $1,200 a month to live there (including rent, food and PSW care).
The Central East Local Health Integrations Network (LHIN), which funds hospitals and longterm care centres with provincial tax money, is planning to help pay for the support staff.
Michael Nettleton, a board member for the Central East LHIN, said it’s a good investment because it will decrease pressure on PRHC to keep frail seniors in hospital beds, longterm.
“This is very innovative thinking, and an innovative model that can be used elsewhere,” he said.
For information about the PHC, visit www.ptbohousingcorp.ca.