Hon. Christopher Bentley, MPP London West & Attorney General for Ontario, Brent Gingerich, CEO, peopleCare, Nancy O'Regan, Alzheimer Society of London (Photo:Kevin Puloski)
PeopleCare breaks ground on new long-term care home
Residence includes specialized units, community Alzheimer's clinic
Tuesday August 5, 2008 -- Camille Jensen
Community partners and local dignitaries were on-site in London Aug. 1 for the groundbreaking of peopleCare’s newest long-term care home.

Designed to provide a continuum of care, the new residence will include a 160-bed long-term care home planned to open in the final quarter of 2009, as well as a 100-unit assisted living residence that will be completed shortly after.

Brent Gingerich, president and CEO of peopleCare, says with more than 70 people in the hospital waiting for alternative placement, there was a definite need for more long-term care services in London.

“Currently, Londoners have a 12-to-24-month wait to place loved ones into long-term care homes,” said Gingerich in a press release. “That is simply too much of a strain on the health-care system, elderly patients and their families.”

He says the project paid specific attention to the changing needs in long-term care, designing a home that would include specialized care units and room for community partnerships.

The new space will have an entire flight devoted to mental health services with 32 beds available to offer specific care for people who have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

The home will also have two specialized units that can be used to meet the changing care needs in the community.

The smaller 15-bed units can provide care for people who have had a stroke or cater to a specific demographic, such as young adults who have acquired brain injury.
 
The new residence was also planned with community partnerships in mind. Gingerich says the long-term care home has provided a space for the Alzheimer Society of London to run a free clinic. The home also has a proposal with the Victorian Order of Nurses for an adult day program.

Gingerich says he is pleased with the home's ability to work with the community.

“I think the really unique part about this development is the integration with the broader health community in London,” says Gingerich. “When it is all completed we expect to have a full continuum of care development.”

For more information on peopleCare and its new residence, visit the corporate website.

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