City-owned long term care needs an expansion, councillors say

City councillors say an aging population and growing waitlist for municipally run long-term care means it's time to start looking at expanding the number of beds the city offers.

A motion for city staff to explore options for expanding the city's long-term care facility was introduced by councillors Hadleigh McAlister and David Ferreira at a committee meeting on Monday, and approved unanimously.

"London's population, like the rest of the country, is aging. We as a city need to prepare for the seismic demographic shift," said McAlister. "What we are seeing is an increased demand for services from seniors and the need to support more spots at long term-care facilities,"

The Dearness Home, the City of London's owned and operated long-term care home, has twice as many people on its waiting list as it has licensed beds. Currently, the Government of Ontario website shows 558 people are waiting to get into one of the home's 243 beds.

During Monday's committee meeting, McAlister also drew a connection between the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on struggling privately owned long-term care facilities, and increasing demand for the municipally run facility.

"This is largely due to the extra funding supplied by council that allows for higher staffing ratios and pay rates, which has helped build the home's reputation for good care and quality services in recent years," he said.

"The relatively poor experience in some private homes during the pandemic has also increased preference for municipal long-term care."

Leslie Hancock, the Dearness Home's administrator, said Monday that the province's commitment to build 30,000 new long-term beds could work in the city's favour, with provincial grants available to take advantage of.

Despite the motion's unanimous approval in a 4-0 vote during Monday's committee meeting, it would still need to win a vote from the entirety of council before the ball starts rolling.

If the motion were to clear that vote, it would start a long process with an initial price tag into the six figures, said Kevin Dickins, the city bureaucrat who oversees social and health issues.

According to Dickins, previous land studies of the Dearness Home's property in 2007 and 2020 would need to be built upon, likely by a consultant familiar with the long-term care industry.

"We would want to work with qualified professionals related to long-term care who've done this work. A very rough basic estimate is that would probably run about $100,000," said Dickins, who added that a report would likely be available by the end of the year.

For beds to open during the 2028-2031 municipal budget cycle, the city would likely need to start issuing bids and tenders in 2026, and an application submitted to the province by 2028, Dickins said.

"In other homes that have undertaken this work, the project tends to go from application to completion in between four and seven years," he said.

Council will decide on the fate of the motion brought forward by McAlister and Ferreira at their next full meeting.