Pinecrest to see expansion

1 Comment

• Anne Carmicheal May 02, 2022
  With regard to the Ontario government building 63 new and 65 upgraded beds at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, from among 30,000 'new' beds by 2028 and 28,000 'upgraded' long-term care beds, we all need to look into these 'improvements' carefully, especially if you are over fifty or love someone who is. Upgraded may mean converting the demeaning ward beds (four to a room) merely to another form of shared room with two people having a shared bathroom. No one plans to live in long term care but many of us do, and will; people from young adult to elder live in LTC. Every room should have its own bathroom. Sharing a bathroom destroys dignity and health, especially for the frail and elderly. We must ensure that the media starts reporting on the details of these 'new' and 'upgraded' beds, not just pass the numbers to us and move on. These beds are for our fellow citizens, still community members though they live in LTC, still retired members of society though they live in LTC, still vital friends and family members though they live in LTC. They deserve our attention. There is more to elder-living than being deposited in a residence. Good long term care facilities are clean, roomy, friendly, and have numerous programs for residents, their families and the public. Good LTCs are good community corporate citizens. A good LTC physical environment has one bathroom for one bedroom for one person, period. No shared private bathrooms. If we have learned one lesson from LTC deaths in covid, it is the importance of containing disease. Colds, flu, pneumonia and innumerable other illnesses affect the frail elderly greatly and can be fatal. Covid has exacerbated mortality, and the lack of providing a segregated medical ward for at least ten per cent of the population within each LTC home has been a contributing factor. Let's make sure each LTC is built with these important features inherent, so that upcoming residents, perhaps ourselves, will be granted the dignity and protection of their own bathroom, their own room, and a medical ward within the home for those with communicable illness, to contain outbreaks and to let residents in the rest of the home live their lives. It would be a great relief to hospital staff and their facilities, be more cost effective in the immediate and long run, and be less stressful on the residents, who when struck with contagious illness would be transferred within their own home for the duration, so they get the care they need and then return to their own home area when recovered. We all need to follow LTC 'improvements' carefully, not just assume this vital area of our lives is being 'looked after'. Remember covid. Think of your own future, and think with compassion for others. Let's see some in-depth reporting into exactly what 'plans' and 'beds' for long term care actually means by this provincial government, and ensure these quality and preservation of life factors - one bathroom per room per resident; and a segregated ward for ten per cent of the LTC population for contagious illness - are integral to the designs before any work is done.