The groundbreaking ceremony in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, just off County Road 49 on old Highway 2, is the result of years of advocacy and lobbying by Chief R. Don Maracle and the band council to get a long-term care facility in the community.
“With long term care, we do need that collaborative approach with all hands on deck,” says Chief Maracle. “We came together in partnership, in the spirit of cooperation, simply to take care of the wellbeing of the people who live in our community, because that is the role of government.”
The $70 million, 128-bed facility comes as the need for long term care facilities in the region is expected only to grow. Chief Maracle says the new facility will help ease waitlists in the broader community beyond Tyendinaga.
“4,166 are in Hastings County alone, and growing,” says Chief Maracle. “The Quinte area is a targeted place for seniors to reside and retire and live here, so there’s a lot of pressure on the services.”
When the long-term care facility is complete by the winter of 2026, it will allow elders living in the facilities outside of Tyendinaga to return home.
Minister for Long Term Care Paul Calandra says Chief Maracle will play a role in accomplishing that in other areas of the province.
“The work that he’s going to help us do in other parts of the province, so that we can bring even more homes onto reserves across the province of Ontario, is very, very exciting,” says Calandra.
Minister Calandra also took part in another groundbreaking ceremony in Napanee, where construction is already underway. The new 128-bed facility will replace the current aging Village Green care home.
Calandra says these new facilities equipped with diagnostic capabilities are also being built with lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Better air filtration is standard in every home,” says Calandra. “Homes that are built around 32-person areas, separate dining rooms so they’re not all in one large dining room, infection and prevention control officers embedded in each and every home.”
The province has set a goal of building 30,000 long term care beds by 2028, and these 2 facilities will help reach that goal and take better care of seniors in these communities.
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