On Friday the province announced funding for 29 new long-term care beds at The Elliott Community (TEC).
In 2021 The Elliott applied to the province for funding for the additional beds and Friday's announcement was the fruits of that labour.
This will bring the total number of beds at the location to 114.
The expected time of completion is summer 2024 “and all signs point towards being on schedule,” said Stan Cho, Minister of Long-Term Care, at the announcement.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care is providing almost $3.68 million for the project and the City of Guelph is providing “over $860,000 in capital funding as well as up to $6.2 million in debt financing,” said Coun. Dominique O’Rourke, member of The Elliott board of trustees.
Cho talked about his parents who are seniors now and how he feels an obligation to support them.
“This is the province that gave me and my family absolutely everything. And I say that story because I think we sometimes lose sight in the numbers and the investments of the why,” Cho said.
The Elliott is one of 67 homes in Ontario part of the supplemental increase to the construction funding subsidy intended to build more long-term care homes.
“So the wonderful complex that you see today, to serve the many residents and their families who have called the Elliott home over the years, we're equally proud to be designated the long-term care home for the City of Guelph and to be one of the city's senior care homes. We depend very much on the partnership with the Ministry of Long-Term Care so that we can continue to offer high quality, resident focused care to everyone, today and tomorrow who will make their home with us,” said Peter Barrow, chair of the board of trustees.
“And since 2018, we're happy to say that 18,000 beds have been constructed or are currently under construction now doesn't mean that we've accomplished our goal, we still need to build 58,000 by 2028,” Cho said.
“Are we done? Now no absolutely not we can’t rest on that we're looking actively in other ways to get more projects off the ground,” he said.
The government will see if there is another program it can work on to keep long-term care beds being built but "we’ll be back in Guelph, we’ll be back all along the province because we got to build more," Cho said.
