MORE BEDS WANTED FOR THE NEW RESIDENCE

Counties staff are still working on finding a location for the new Prescott-Russell Residence. They will also apply for provincial government support to increase the number of beds available at the new long-term care facility when it is built.

The United Counties of Prescott-Russell council (UCPR) reviewed an email from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, concerning the provincial government’s strategy for improving long-term care services for seniors in Ontario. The strategy includes increasing the number of available long-term care beds (LTC) in Ontario by 5000, by 2022, and by 30,000 over the following decade.

The ministr y is taking applications now for new LTC bed capacity from non-profit and private sector groups, and local governments which own and/or operate long-term care facilities. There was general agreement with a recommendation from Stéphane Parisien, UCPR chief administrator, for the UCPR to make a bid for increasing the bed capacity in the plans for the new Prescott-Russell Residence.

“I think, with the way the situation is, with people getting older, we should apply for those (extra) beds,” said Mayor Robert Kirby of East Hawkesbury Township. “The worst that can happen is that we apply and they (government) say no,” said Mayor Pierre Leroux of Russell Township. Parisien told counties council during its Febr uary 21 session that the con - sultant involved w ith planning the new Residence also urged the counties to push forward an application for an increase in bed capacity for the project. Parisien also noted that the list of applications for new senior tenants at the Prescott-Russell Residence continues to increase.

The one objection to the application came from Clarence-Rockland Mayor Guy Desjardins. He expressed again his concern about what he called “the deficit” situation for the counties with the annual operation of the Prescott-Russell Residence. Mayor Leroux argued that the counties’ annual allocation in its budget for the Residence’s operation is a subsidy, not a deficit.

“Let’s be clear,” Leroux said. “A deficit is when you budget, say, $4 million, and you spend $5 million. That’s a deficit. Not when you budget for something and that’s what you spend.”

Counties council voted to authorize administration to file an application to the province for increasing the tenant capacity for the new Residence project by 14 extra beds.

Les CUPR présenteront une demande afin d’augmenter le nombre de lits disponibles en Ontario pour les résidents d’établissements de soins de longue durée, comme la Résidence Prescott-Russell actuelle, située à Hawkesbury. Les comtés veulent augmenter de 14 le nombre de lits disponibles.