Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Laurel Myers
Christmas came early for the St. Joseph's Health Centre. The Ontario government, through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), announced a $2-million investment to assist in the construction of a new 128-bed long-term care home in Chelmsford.
Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci was at the St. Joseph's Health Centre on Paris Street Tuesday morning to make the announcement to a packed room of health care workers and supporters alike.
“This significant NOHFC investment will help address some of the alternate level of care pressures currently being faced by our community,” said Bartolucci.
“Once fully operational, this facility will go a long way in ensuring our community has the necessary infrastructure to meet the needs of our aging population.”
The new long-term care facility will be built on an eight-acre property — located behind the Place Bonaventure Mall — which was donated to the St. Joseph's Foundation by Gabe Bélanger, owner of the Bélanger Ford Lincoln Centre in Chelmsford.
The proposed home will be a 90,000-square foot, two-story facility that is expected to be completed by the fall of 2010. It will bring roughly 100 jobs to the region.
“This is truly a Christmas gift, and we are most grateful to the NOHFC for their support,” said Sister Mildred Connelly, chair of St. Joseph's Health Centre board of directors.
“This long-term care project will have an enormous impact on our community, and thanks to this $2-million investment, we are one step closer to meeting our financial commitments for this project.”
She said when the board started laying the ground work for the project, they knew it wouldn't be an easy journey with raising construction costs, labour shortages and market demands.
“All this threatened to put the project out of our reach,” she said. “The ALC crisis in our city has reached such a critical level...we (the board) had to respond.”
The estimated cost of the project is $20 million, according to Bartolucci. The $2-million investment is in addition to the $9.6 million announced for the project in August 2007 by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, to go toward operating costs.
“I's a good investment because it's an investment in people,” the MPP said. “These 128 beds are critical to solving the problems we have with ALC patients.
“Everything is happening, the energies are pointed in the right direction,” he added. “People should have a great deal of confidence in the future and our hospital, once it's finished, will be big enough for all.”
