TORONTO -- The Ontario government will be fast-tracking the construction of two long-term care homes in Mississauga, adding up to 640 new long-term care beds by next year.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the announcement alongside Minister of Long-Term Care Merrliee Fullerton, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and President and CEO of Trillium Health Partners Michelle DiEmanuele.
“It’s no secret that the system is in desperate need,” he said. “We’re all working together to deliver new long-term care homes and deliver them fast, not the typical four or five years, but next year.”
The government said that it usually takes about 36 months to build a long-term care facility. They hope that “accelerating measures” like modular construction, rapid procurement and the use of hospital land will help get the projects done in 2021.
The 640 beds are in addition to the 8,000 promised by the Ontario government, officials said, and are part of a “historic” $1.76 billion investment.
The investment meant to “kick start the development of long-term care beds" over the next five years is a re-commitment of promises made by the former Liberal government, CTV News Toronto previously learned.
Of the new beds the Ford government promised to build, about 6,000 were allocated by the Kathleen Wynne government in 2017 and 2018, and the remainder was allocated by the PC government in 2018 and 2019.
The announcement comes as Ontarians await details of an independent commission into the impact of COVID-19 on the province’s long-term care homes.
The commission was announced in May but by mid-July no further information has been provided.
More than 38,000 people are on a waitlist to access a long-term care bed as of March 2020, the government says.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Colin D’Mello
