MISSISSAUGA, ONT. — The Ontario government has unveiled the Accelerated Build Pilot Program that commits to the construction of two new long-term care homes in Mississauga, Ont. in a matter of months.
The pilot program is part of the government’s plan to create new long-term care beds across the province that meet modern design standards, including features such as air conditioning and private or semi-private rooms, beginning immediately, states a July 21 release.
Working with Trillium Health Partners and Infrastructure Ontario (IO), the province intends to add up to 640 new long-term care beds by 2021. Trillium and IO will work together to manage the day-to-day construction oversight, monitor commissioning and provide timely status reporting on progress.
The homes will be built on land already owned by Trillium Health Partners in order to overcome land availability and cost challenges.
Through a range of accelerating measures such as modular construction, rapid procurement and the use of hospital lands, the government and its partners are targeting completion of the projects in 2021, years faster than the traditional timeline, the release indicates.
“Not only have we recently announced a plan to get shovels in the ground faster on over 120 long-term care projects in our pipeline, we are also exploring innovative partnerships to get more beds built sooner across the province starting with these two pilot projects in Mississauga,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a statement.
“The pilot is bold and innovative and aims to ensure that more seniors get access to modern homes in a fraction of the time,” added Merrilee Fullerton, minister of long-term care. “Between 2011 and 2018, just 600 beds were added to Ontario’s long-term care system — that’s less than one bed per home. Our government intends to do better to meet the needs of our aging population.”
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