New beds open at Kitchener, Ont. long-term-care facility

The next phase in the expansion of a long-term home care in Kitchener, Ont., has been completed with 179 upgraded beds having opened, according to the Ontario government.

There are now 224 beds at the Village of Winston Park, which will house 95 residents from the original building at the residence as well as 84 residents of the Pinehaven Nursing Home, who will transfer to the new facility.

There will be 45 new beds available at the nursing home as well.

The province says that the original building at the nursing home, which is operated by Schlegel Villages, will now undergo renovations before it opens a further 64 new beds next spring.

In a release, the Ontario government noted that there are 12 more long-term-care projects underway across Waterloo Region which are expected to provide 1,467 new and 1,010 upgraded long-term care beds in the area.

There is a still a long way to go in ending the shortage of long-term-care beds as the province notes that as of last November, there were still 39,000 people on the waitlist for beds while the median wait time was 126 days for placement.

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