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Courtemanche waits for decision on long-term care plan

A made-in-Sudbury plan to solve the long-term care crisis in this area was submitted to the province over a month ago, but Sudbury Mayor Dave Courtemanche is still waiting for the government to make a move.

A made-in-Sudbury plan to solve the long-term care crisis in this area was submitted to the province over a month ago, but Sudbury Mayor Dave Courtemanche is still waiting for the government to make a move.

In early December, Courtemanche, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci, Ward 2 Councillor Ron Bradley and city staffer Catherine Matheson met with Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman to seek a solution to the ongoing nursing care bed shortage.

Smitherman suggested community partners in Sudbury come up with a solution, and a proposal was submitted to his office about a week later.

Courtemanche's advisor, Paul Demers, said the Mayor spoke on the phone with Smitherman Thursday morning about the subject, but couldn't divulge the content of their discussion.

Demers also said he could not discuss the content of the made-in-Sudbury solution. The Mayor is anxiously waiting for Smitherman to make an announcement about this topic, he said.

"It's a concern to our community, and Bartolucci and the Mayor have been working together on this, and they've been keeping themselves up to speed on the situation," said Demers.

"It's something that the mayor strongly feels needs to be accomplished."

Sudbury has been under a Crisis 1A designation since April 2004 because there aren't enough provincially-funded beds in the city for people needing nursing care.

The designation means patients can be sent to long-term care facilities on Manitoulin Island and Espanola, and more recently, the Lakeland Nursing home in Parry Sound.

Sudbury Regional Hospital is also overflowing with alternative level of care (ALC) patients, some of whom are waiting for long-term care beds.

Courtemanche told Northern Life in December that the city and its partners would likely recommend funding for more interim long-term care beds in Sudbury, which could be housed at Pioneer Manor.

The minister is quite concerned that Sudburians are being transferred out of their community to get nursing care, the Mayor said at the time.

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