Shelburne Long-Term Care to receive major upgrades

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Shelburne Long Term Care Home will be seeing some major upgrades in the near future as the province announces plans for a new facility. 

Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones was joined by local leaders and guests on April 8 outside of Shelburne Long Term Care Home, located at 200 Robert Street, to announce the province's plan to provide 68 new and 60 upgraded beds at the long-term care home owned by Southbridge Care Homes. 

“Our government has plan to fix long term care and ensure seniors get the quality of care they need and deserve, both now and into the future,” said Jones. “This plan builds around three pillars: improving staffing and care, strengthening accountability, enforcement and transparency, and finally building modern, safe and comfortable homes for our seniors.” 

The plan to add 128 beds at Shelburne Long Term Care Home is part of a $6.4 million promise by the provincial government to build more than 30,000 net new beds and 28,000 upgraded beds across the province by 2028. 

There are now 283 new and 197 upgraded long-term care beds in development, under construction or completed in Dufferin County including; 23 new and 137 upgraded beds at Avalon Care Centre, and 192 new beds at Headwaters LTC Residence. 

“This is without a doubt the largest long-term care building program in Canada,” said Jones. 

The current Shelburne Long Term Care Home facility houses 60 long term care beds and about 28 retirement suites. The plan is to construct a new building on a new piece of land, and renovate the old facility into 25 retirement suites. 

“We are enhancing and prioritizing long term care in Ontario,” said Ryan Bell, CEO of Southbridge Care Homes. “We are excited for residents to move into our new home and experience our modern, safe, and community-minded approach to living.” 

Jaclyn Goss, director of care at Shelburne Long Term Care Home, noted what the facility upgrades mean for residents in the home. 

“We still have a lot of the older ward size rooms, and in the modern, newer designs everything is much more private, which for the residents they would love. The newer modern updates will be really nice as we move forward and see increasing numbers of individuals coming to us that are not necessarily elderly,” she said. 

Goss also noted the significance of the additional 128 beds for Shelburne Long Term Care Home as they face a minimum waitlist of around 60 person.

Shelburne Deputy Mayor Steve Anderson, who has been an advocate locally for improved and affordable housing for seniors in Shelburne, spoke of the announcement on behalf of council. 

“At the end of the day, the people who are going to benefit the most is not the people necessarily in this room, but our valued residents in Shelburne – that's the most important thing,” said Anderson. 

He also added how many residents, including himself, may one day find themselves using the facilities and benefiting for the project. 

“This project couldn't have come at a better time and we look forward to when we see shovels in the ground,” said Anderson. 

While plans to construct a new Shelburne Long Term Care Home were announced, it will still be sometime until local residents will be able to call the new facility home. The next steps include Southbridge Care Homes purchasing new land and zoning for construction, which typically takes a year, and then approximately 18 months to construct the facility. 

The project is expected to create around 50 to 60 full-time jobs in the town.