One-third of new long-term care beds have opened, 6 months after P.E.I. premier promised them

Six months after P.E.I. Premier Dennis King said 54 new long-term care beds would open up in privately run homes across the province, just one-third of those have been approved.

In February, King said those beds would be available within 30 days of licensing approval. Meanwhile, Health P.E.I. recently issued a request for proposals for a much bigger expansion involving 175 new private long-term care beds over the next two years.

But since that February announcement from the premier, only 18 of the initially promised 54 beds have opened, including five at the Dr. John M. Gillis Memorial Lodge in Belfast, P.E.I.

"Our home was, I think, unique compared to some of the other homes. We had several beds that weren't being used to [their] full potential," said Gillis Lodge administrator William McGuigan, who's also the chair of the Nursing Home Association of P.E.I.

"After meeting with our team we determined that we need to be using our building to its full potential because it would be very unfortunate for someone sitting in a hospital bed in Charlottetown or Montague when they could be in Belfast in a nursing-care bed and, you know, they're going to get better care out here."

The $25-million deal between the province and private long-term care operators to open the 54 new beds is all part of the government's strategy to alleviate strain on Island hospitals.

Most of the fundingis going toward raising the wages of private-facility workers to narrow the gap with public employees, along with grants and financing programs to help open up the new spaces for patients.

As part of the agreement, the daily bed rate will go up $77.55 per day, from $264.45 to $342 a nearly 30 per cent increase.

In addition to the five new beds at Gillis Lodge, five were also approved for South Shore Villa in Crapaud, three at the Garden Home and Whisperwood Villa in Charlottetown, and two at Kensington's Clinton View Lodge.

While the licensing process may seem like it's moving slowly, McGuigan said the process for opening new beds is thorough.

"Because we have to follow so many safeguards and regulations to ensure everything is safe staffing, equipment, infrastructure it can slow things down, which isn't a bad thing," he said.

"So that is where some of the homes are at at the moment, is the regulations and getting inspected. With these beds, some homes did indicate that they would have to do some form of expansion or renovation."

The proposed 175-bed expansion, meanwhile, will also create some challenges when it comes to staffing and construction, given shortages in both fields.

But McGuigan said operators seem to be excited about the prospect of expanding their current homes or building new ones.

"We're looking at construction across the whole province, and we're not looking at little builds here," he said.

"At the end of the day, I think everyone realizes how important it is to get these beds open, licensed and operational because every person that we can get out of the hospital system is only going to have a benefit for the entire Island."