A report on the cost of upgrading beds at Pioneer Manor sparked talk Tuesday about whether the city should be in the long-term care home business.
Councillors were told that the total cost of upgrading the facility would be between $33 million and $39 million, depending on whether 122 beds that must be upgraded are fixed, or whether 160 beds are done to add to the total complement at the city-owned facility. That translates into an annual mortgage of $1.1 million to $1.3 million.
The province would cover less than half of the total cost, meaning the net cost to the city would be about $20 million.
The province is mandating the beds be upgraded to a new, higher standard of care, Brenda Loubert, director of the North East Centre of Excellence for Seniors' Health at Pioneer Manor told council.
At 433 beds, the Manor is the third largest LTC home in the province, Loubert said, and is one of 106 city-owned facilities in the province.
A total of 149 beds are not up to current standards, of which 27 are deemed to be temporary. The plan proposed Tuesday would make those beds permanent, and add 11 new beds.
A new four- or five-storey building would be erected on the property, and the current road would be rerouted.
Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo wondered whether the city had to do the work.
“Is this something the ministry is requiring?” Jakubo asked.
Loubert replied that, if the city wants to keep the existing beds, “we will need to bring them up to standard.”
If the city decides it would rather lose the beds than spend the money, she said the province requires notice five years ahead of time.
“We would have to come up with a plan in order to proceed with the divestment of beds,” she said.
“So the decision is, go ahead with the redevelopment or scrap these beds,” Jakubo said. “They're making us do this, and they're funding less than 44 per cent of the capital cost.”
“It's a lot of money,” said Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier. “There's no law that says we have to own this home.”
Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh said some residents in her ward wanted to “have a conversation” about whether the city should keep Pioneer Manor. While she wasn't taking that position herself, she asked for a report on whether the city should stay in the LTC home business.
“A number of people had raised this issue, and I wanted to put in that request,” McIntosh said.
Ward 5 Coun. Bob Kirwan argued that the city needs to keep ownership of Pioneer Manor because of the “tidal wave” of older residents that's coming, considering 48,000 people in the city are aged 45 or older.
“It's recognized in the province as a centre of excellence,” Kirwan said. “The funding is not fair, (but) we have 433 residents – we can't just put a for sale sign on the front lawn.
“So our options are bascially, how do we fund this long-term mortgage, and are there other revenue sources.”
But Ward 11 Coun. Lynne Reynolds said the city completed another major renovation 12 years ago, and now the province is back demanding more expensive upgrading.
“We could keep having to build and build ... and if they're only paying 44 per cent,” Reynolds said. “It's a good deal for them, not for us.”
Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer said the report would give council a better idea of what would be invovled with maintaining ownership, and what would be invovled if they sold it.
“We need to know what are obligations are, and do we have to be in this business,” Sizer said.
The report is expected in late summer or early fall.
