Seaforth long-term care home closure proposal concerns council
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
Huron East Councillor Ray Chartrand is sounding the alarm bells about the potential closure of the Seaforth Manor Long-Term Care Home.
Chartrand raised the issue at council’s July 18 meeting - though it wasn’t the first time he has expressed concerns about the future of the home in the town - and said he had attended a public meeting at which many locals expressed their concern and confusion about the home’s situation.
He cited documents from the Ontario Long-Term Care licensing public consultation registry, stating that a new home in Exeter to be built by Southbridge would take on beds from both Seaforth and Hensall, also owned by Southbridge, and close both homes.
The new home would have 160 beds in Exeter and the proposal is listed as already being closed.
On the Ontario government’s website, the proposal includes: The development of 37 “new” long-term care beds, allocated by the Ministry of Long-Term Care to be included in the proposed development project, subject to meeting all licensing requirements under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021; the transfer of 60 existing long-term care beds from the Queensway Long-Term Care Home, subject to receiving approval for the transfer under the act; the transfer of 63 existing long-term care beds from Seaforth Long-Term Care Home, subject to receiving approval for the transfer under the act; the closure of the two homes, Queensway Long-Term Care located in Hensall and Seaforth Long-Term Care located in Seaforth, following the redevelopment of the replacement home, and the issuance of a new licence with a term of up to 30 years for the operation of 160 “new” beds at the replacement home, following the development.
Chartrand said he felt as though he and council were being left in the dark, as neither council nor the residents and employees of the Seaforth home had been officially notified of any potential changes being made in Seaforth. Councillor Bob Fisher agreed, saying a neighbour of his, an employee of the home for several decades, came to him looking for answers and he was dismayed to not be able to provide them.
Mayor Bernie MacLellan again cited a meeting he had with Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson and others several months ago regarding the potential for long-term care expansion in Huron East, but repeated his position that he could not share the details with council, even in a closed-to-the-public session, as he was asked to keep the details to himself. He did say the meeting was promising, however.
MacLellan also reiterated the nature of long-term care in Seaforth, saying that it’s a private business and it’s not council’s place to make decisions for it. He said that, sad as it is, if residents and employees are left looking for answers about the decisions being made by the owners of a private business, they need to seek those answers with the owners of the business, not council.
Councillor John Steffler, while acknowledging the home as a private business, said that maintaining long-term care in Seaforth is an economic development concern for council and the well-being of residents should always be a concern of council. He suggested that the municipality’s economic development officer begin working on attracting more long-term care investment to the community as an idea to be considered.
Furthermore, Chartrand said he was concerned that the provincial government wasn’t even following its own guidelines in this scenario, which calls for a certain degree of public consultation. With this surprising so many members of the community, including long-term residents and employees, he felt something was being missed.
No direction came out of the discussion, as councillors admitted that they have no control over the actions of a private business, though several councillors voiced their concerns over losing the home.