Victoria Manor

Retrofit or rebuild it? ‘We also have to keep in mind that 45 years old is the accepted lifespan of a long-term care home.’

KIRK WINTER Municipal Affairs

The province says city council has to improve its 30-year old long-term care facility Victoria Manor by 2025.

Victoria Manor, the only publicly-owned long-term care home in Kawartha Lakes (managed by Sienna Senior Living), has a long history of caring for seniors and others with complex medical needs. By 2025 the Manor must be redeveloped to meet new provincial standards for accessibility and care, but council must decide what form that will take.

Options include building a whole new facility or a retrofit of the building on Angeline Street North in Lindsay to meet provincial requirements.

Chief Administrative Officer Ron Taylor and Director of Human Services Rod Sutherland provided an update to council in February which sparked considerable debate on the options, and who should pay for the changes needed.

“The ‘new’ Victoria Manor was opened in 1990 and currently has 166 beds. Kawartha Lakes is part of the Central East LHIN where the need for new beds is very high. In the central east catchment area alone 10,710 individuals are over the age of 75, close to 7 per cent of the population,” Taylor told council.

He said the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus was looking at long-term care homes before the COVID pandemic began. EOWC was trying to come up with the best possible way for member municipalities to operate their 15 long-term care facilities.

“EOWC is committed to the four hours a day of individual care endorsed by the province,” Taylor said, “but the question is how this will be funded. We also need to discover how we can recruit staff because in rural Ontario that is a real problem.”

Taylor said the province’s funding formula is too complex. “We are looking for funding on a per-bed basis. The province has committed to 30,000 new beds over the next 10 years but no one knows where the money is coming from. Each new long-term care home costs between $50-$80 million and that is simply too expensive for municipalities to carry that kind of debt alone.”

Councillor Pat Dunn said when he first joined council “Homes for the aged were an albatross around municipalities’ necks. Municipalities couldn’t compete with private firms. Are we anticipating going down a different road with everything that has recently happened?”

Sutherland said the pandemic “will be a key part of a provincial review of long-term care homes.”

“There needs to be a continual assessment of sector safety. From the municipal standpoint, the pandemic has created more acceptance of municipal ownership. I see no movement of municipalities either to get out of the business or expand our roles with more long-term care homes. We need local facilities in rural Ontario so people can age in their community of choice.”

Dunn said municipalities were “forced by the province to get involved.” While he said they may be necessary in rural Ontario, they are “underfunded by the province.”

Councillor Kathleen Seymour-Fagan sits on the management board for Victoria Manor and reminded council that “It was not our decision to redevelop. The province has demanded these upgrades (at Victoria Manor).”

Sutherland said the municipality has been told that by 2025 Victoria Manor needs to shift to having 100 per cent single or double rooms. Because of COVID there will also be a change in standards and minimum room sizes.

“Our fire suppression system is already compliant,” Sutherland said, “but room sizes will need to grow and every door will need to be widened two inches.”

Seymour-Fagan added the city has applied for the money from the province for these upgrades but so far it has not been forthcoming.

When Sutherland was asked about the cost of a new build he said, “It would cost the city $15-30 million dollars just in carrying costs over 25 years if we built new.” (Carrying costs represent the recurring expenses paid on the old property even while a new facility is being built.)

“We can redevelop the old building,” Sutherland said, “but it may not be feasible making rooms larger. We have looked at a new wing or a third floor. We have discovered that retrofitting is more expensive than a new building. We also have to keep in mind that 45 years old is the accepted lifespan of a long-term care home.”

WHY I CAME BACK TO CALL KAWARTHA LAKES HOME

RYAN OLIVER

I returned to the Lindsay area a little over five years ago. I grew up here and the combination of proximity to family, cost of living and opportunity to expand a business made the area ideal. It is surreal sending my children to the same school I went to, and to support the building of a community, a business idea and a way of living with the people I’ve known all my life. Pinnguaq builds its tech programming on the needs of rural communities and as we’ve expanded from Nunavut to the rest of Canada, Kawartha Lakes offers a friendly environment for us to continue our expansion across rural communities around Canada. But really, my mom and dad are here! I can get regular hugs whenever I want. Can’t beat that.

More news and stories available at

lindsayadvocate.ca

KIRK WINTER Municipal Affairs

KLPL

PUBLIC LIBRARY

KAWARTHA LAKES

PUBLIC LIBRARY

YOUR GUIDE TO THE

DISCOVER WHAT’S NEW

NOTES FROM CITY HALL

Proposed Kawartha Lakes

municipal budget - $275.6 million Operating budget - $210.7 million Capital budget - $30.6 million Special projects budget - $2.5 million Expected tax rate increase - Between 3-3.84 per cent

Exceptional

Your fines are forgiven! Come visit us today!

Discovery Exploration Entertainment

KawarthaLakesLibrary.ca

The capital budget, which details new city projects for 2021, was approved late in 2020. Typically it contains $45$50 million, but for 2021 has been slashed by 40 per cent because of the pandemic’s impact. The $30.6 million will be spent as follows: • $21.4 million for roads, bridges, sidewalks and street lights • $3.6 million for vehicle purchases • $2 million for landfill upgrades • $1.8 million for emergency services • $600,000 for cemeteries • $300,000 for building upgrades • $200,000 for libraries and recreation • $100,000 for the Kawartha Lakes Municipal Airport Key items in the $210.7 million operating budget, which covers costs of the day-to-day running of the city and has yet to be approved: • $71.2 million in salaries and benefits • $40.7 million in contracted services like

Victoria Manor, waste pickup and winter control • $45.5 million in transfers to external clients like conservation authorities, the OPP and the health unit • $17.7 million to reserves • $16.1 million for items such as sand, salt, fuel and utilities • $10 million to cover the principal and interest on the city debt • $9.5 million in other costs; single biggest expenditure is $2.6 million for insurance

Millions of Opportunities. One Exceptional Library.

International Plowing Match and Rural Expo will go ahead

Directors and staff of the Ontario Plowmen’s Association (OPA) say they will be moving forward with plans for the 2020-21 International Plowing Match (IPM) and Rural Expo.

OPA will welcome visitors to Kawartha Lakes Oct. 13-16, according to a media release. The IPM will be take place at the Lindsay Exhibition and neighbouring farms.

With COVID-19 restrictions in mind, the organizers will be simultaneously planning both a traditional IPM and a re-envisioned IPM. Alternate designs with additional health protocols for both the “tented city” and the RV park are being developed.

Traditional IPM features such as the Bank of Montreal Plowing Competition and Queen of the Furrow Competition may look different this year but the OPA assures the events will be just as exciting as in the past.

“Our provincial and local volunteers will be ramping up their committee planning with conference calls and video calls,” says Don Priest, vice-president of the OPA. “We really look forward to the in-person committee and community meetings that we will be held just as soon as the provincial health situation allows.”

344 Logie St., Lindsay, ON | (705) 878-3530 | mabeeandassociatespwm.com

Call us and discover the Mabee & Associates difference!

Over 20 years’experience building and preserving wealth.

Investors Group Financial Services Inc. Trademarks, including IG Private Wealth Management are owned by IGM Financial and licensed to its subsidiary corporations.

Stock up on all your quilting supplies at Appleseed Quiltworks!

100 Kent St W, Lindsay, ON www.appleseedquilt.ca 705-324-0385

Tracy Hennekam

Broker of Record / Owner 705-320-9119 getsoldwithtracy@gmail.com 705-320-9119 46 Kent St. W., Lindsay, ON K9V 2Y2 getsoldwithtracy@gmail.com www.sellwithtracy.com

051916 Tracy Hennekam BC proof.indd 1 2018-09-17 10:11 AM