It's great news for long-term care in our community.
Cassellholme has agreed to manage the operations of the new long-term care facility for a management fee, which will earn revenue for Cassellholme and enable the home to provide for additional resources for care.
Lady Isabelle in Trout Creek closed in 2017.
See: Government commits to keeping nursing home in Trout Creek
"Almost as soon as Lady Isabelle Long Term Care Home was closed about two years ago, Cassellholme, the Municipality of Powassan and MPP Vic Fedeli, started working together to keep the long-term care beds in our District," says Chris Mayne Cassellholme Board Chair.
"As Lady Isabelle was operated as a privately owned care facility it took some time to find a private sector Capital funding partner and eventually Wilsondale Asset Management of Woodbridge, Ont. submitted a plan to the Ministry of Health for a new 96-bed long-term care home at an estimated cost of $32 million."
The story has two parts, with the re-opening of Lady Isabelle and the construction of a new facility. The original idea was to leave Lady Isabelle as is and set it up as minimum care senior apartments.
"But with the pressure on the hospital and impending COVID related demand for beds, the idea was to ramp this up more quickly because 63 beds are available right now to help with hospital overflow."
Mayne says the fire department has gone through, and the Ministry of Health inspectors have made sure all equipment is in place and meets current standards.
Long term, however, there will be a new facility. "That's probably a year or two away yet," says Mayne.
Mayne says Cassellholme, as part of its business model, has actively been looking to sell its management expertise to regain lost revenue.
"For example, about eight years ago, four of the member Municipalities requested that they be allowed to leave Cassellholme and re-direct their share of the funding to their own long-term care home. Opportunities, such as Lady Isabelle offer an opportunity to recover this loss without impacting the municipalities that continue to support Cassellholme."
The management fees that, Cassellholme will charge Lady Isabelle, will reduce the costs that would otherwise be levied by Cassellholme for district long term care.
"Just as significantly the 60 to 80 jobs that had previously been available in Trout Creek will now be returned if not increased," explained Mayne.
"Further, the number of patients at the North Bay Regional Healthcare Centre requiring an alternate level of care rather than acute care, has been an ongoing concern for a number of years. Reopening the Lady Isabelle beds will take much of the pressure off of the acute care beds at NBRHC particularly at a time when those beds may be required to meet potential COVID-19 acute care demand."
Mayne credits the efforts of Cassellholme, Powassan Mayor Peter McIssac, Wilsondale Asset Management and particularly MP Vic Fedeli, without whose strong support this project would not have come to completion.
The Lady Isabelle Nursing Home in Trout Creek was shut down after inspectors visited the home and found numerous infractions.
The home had its license revoked because of a history of widespread on-going non-compliance from financial discrepancies, shortage of 24-hour nursing care, hazardous substances, lack of an infection prevention and control program, skin and wound care, and many more issues.
At the time, Lady Isabelle was the town's largest employer with 80 people working there.
