Staffer in C-class home says LTC Act looks like 'over-governing'
Friday, November 17, 2006 -- Craig Anderson
A staff member at a home in Ridgetown is perplexed as to the government’s motive behind its recently proposed Long Term Care Homes Act.

New limited licensing rules, which will give most Class B and C homes a ten year lease, can be reviewed within seven years. After that time, the Ministry can decide to close the home.

Currently, licensing rules mean that a home’s status is reviewed on an annual basis. But unlike the current regime, the proposed Act won’t allow homes to appeal a ruling demanding they be closed.

This would throw a home into severe uncertainty, says Carrie Helmer, office manager of the Village of Ridgetown, a joint long term care/ retirement home with 40 LTC beds and 98 retirement beds. The Village is a C-classification LTC residence.

“It’s a huge concern for families,” says Helmer. “I don’t know why they are doing it. It seems like over-governing.”

Helmer and Nancy Huston, Director of Care for the Village, joined administrators, staff and a busload of residents from four other area homes (Copper Terrace, Meadow Park Chatham, Tilbury Manor and Blenheim Community Village) in meeting with Pat Hoy, MPP for Chatham-Essex-Kent in his Chatham office.

The MPP, reports the local Daily News, “supports the need to include older facilities in the new Long-Term Care homes Act.”

He pledged to take the group’s concerns to Minister George Smitherman.

“After seven years the government can decide to do anything it wants with our homes, including closing them and moving the beds to another community,” Anne-Marie Rumble, administrator for Meadow Park Chatham, told the Daily News.

A commitment of capital funding to improve older homes, said Rumble, is not included in the Act, and puts an extra uncertainty on providers.

“Residents, families and this community deserve a commitment and a plan to secure the future of their home and the services it provides now, not ten years from now,” she said.

The Village, which has five four-bed wards, is in a similar predicament, says Helmer.

“Four-bed rooms aren’t acceptable and we would like to upgrade, but without capital funding we can’t do it.”

The Village is also a principle employer in the community.

“[Ridgetown] is a small community and we employ quite a few people in the area,” she says. She estimates that there are more than 100 staff in the two residences.

The two residences are part of a multi-tiered structure, explains Helmer, making a transition from the retirement home to the LTC home - if needed - a seamless one.

In the event the home is earmarked for closing, these residents would likely have to go to another community, which would be stressful for both family and the residents forced to move.