Ontario Provides Additional Protection for Retirement Home Residents and Staff in Nipissing
March 17, 2021Investment will help cover costs for COVID related expenses
NORTH BAY – Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing announced an investment of over $160,000 for four local retirement homes to help the retirement home sector cover COVID-19 related costs such as hiring, training and testing additional staff, and sanitizing residences and purchasing supplies to prevent and contain the spread of infection.
“Our government has been clear since the beginning of the pandemic that keeping people safe and healthy is our priority,” said MPP Vic Fedeli. “Seniors living in retirement homes have been doing their part to stop the spread of COVID-19, and this funding will help them continue to do so.”
Local retirement home recipients include:
- Barclay House Retirement Residence $ 33,396.20
- Empire Living Centre $ 58,073.93
- Marina Point Village $ 48,040.13
- Nipissing Manor Retirement Home $ 20,921.74
“Retirement home operators are working tirelessly to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep residents and staff safe,” said Raymond Cho, Minister for Seniors and Accessibility. “Our government’s additional funding will enable retirement homes to purchase more critical supplies like PPE, products to carry out deep cleaning, or to support more on-site testing to help further prevent and contain outbreaks.”
Ontario has more than 770 licensed retirement homes and many are run by small operators who urgently need the government’s support to deal with rising costs related to fighting COVID-19. Ontario’s retirement homes have been working cooperatively with public health officials across the province to ensure best practices are being followed to prevent and control COVID-19 and to help get residents and staff vaccinated.
Under the leadership of General (Ret’d) Rick Hillier, Ontario’s three-phase vaccination plan is making steady progress. To-date over 56,000 residents and over 23,000 workers in retirement homes have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and of them over 35,000 residents and 15,000 staff have received both doses.
Healthy people are essential for a healthy economy. On March 24, the government will release the 2021 Ontario Budget. It will focus on protecting people’s health, with a plan to defeat COVID-19, and support for people and jobs.
QUICK FACTS
- Ontario has more than 770 retirement homes with capacity to house more than 66,000 residents.
- Visit Ontario’s website to learn more about how the province continues to protect the people of Ontario from COVID-19.
- By 2023, there will be 3 million Ontarians over the age of 65 – older adults are the province’s fastest growing demographic.