Durham Region’s newest long-term care home will provide state-of-the-art care close to home
DURHAM REGION – Today, Lakeridge Health celebrated the grand opening of Lakeridge Gardens, Durham Region’s newest long-term care home. Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance and MPP for Pickering-Uxbridge, and John Henry, Durham Regional Chair, joined leaders from Lakeridge Health and Lakeridge Gardens to mark this important milestone.
Lakeridge Gardens will provide high-quality resident-centred care to Durham Region residents in a modern and safe environment. The home is part of a campus of care, ensuring residents have access to the specialized and complex care they need, and that long-term care services are integrated into the broader Lakeridge Health system.
“On behalf of the entire Lakeridge Health team, I am honoured to welcome 320 future residents, more than 500 team members, and countless volunteers, families, and visitors to Lakeridge Gardens,” said Sharon Cochran, Chair, of the Board of Trustees at Lakeridge Health. “Thousands of individuals from across the region came together to make this home a reality. Thanks to their collaboration and dedication, seniors across Durham Region will have access to high-quality long-term care services closer to home. I am confident our vision of One System. Best Health. will be felt by the residents who will call Lakeridge Gardens their home and by the families who will make memories in this building for years to come.”
The home was designed and built with evidence-informed infection prevention and control measures and with the resident and their family at the centre of care. Lakeridge Gardens’ features include outdoor spaces on each floor, a specialized behavioural unit with access to a secure rooftop terrace, private and semi-private rooms, a hair salon and spas, and multiple bright and sunny gathering areas for families to connect with their loved ones. The home also houses a nine-station dialysis unit, thanks to funding from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Long-Term Care, and the Ontario Renal Network. This unit will mean an increased quality of life for residents who will be able to access treatment in the comfort of their home; and it will also be available to those in the community who require dialysis services.
Lakeridge Gardens was first announced in July 2020 as part of the Ministry of Long-Term Care’s Accelerated Build Pilot Program, in partnership with Infrastructure Ontario. PCL Construction broke ground on the home in January 2021 and, after 13 months of rapid progress, major construction on the home was finalized in February 2022. The home will formally begin to welcome residents and families during the first move-in day scheduled for March 29.
In addition to celebrating the home’s opening, UA Local 46, Plumbers Steamfitters and Welders, in partnership with PCL Construction, presented a $60,000 donation to Lakeridge Gardens. This donation will enhance special touches to make the building feel like home, such as artwork that exudes colour, friendly images, and bright and flowery murals that will bring the outside to the inside for those residents who find it difficult to leave the home, as well as decorations that will encourage residents to enjoy the different seasons and celebrate in cheerful surroundings.
Beverly Rogers, a Durham Region resident, was also acknowledged at the event for her generous $10,000 donation in support of the home’s hair salon.
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For information contact:
Sharon Navarro
Manager, Public Relations and Digital Communications
Lakeridge Health
905-453-7889
snavarro@lh.ca
Quotes:
“Our government has a plan to fix long-term care and a key part of that plan is building modern, safe, and comfortable homes for our seniors,” said Paul Calandra, Minister of Long-Term Care. “Lakeridge Gardens is the first project to be completed under our government’s Accelerated Build Pilot Program and was built in record time. We’re proud to celebrate the opening of this state-of-the-art long-term care home which will be a place for 320 seniors in Durham Region to call home, near their family and friends.”
“Today we are celebrating a tremendous milestone of the first long-term care home built under Ontario’s Accelerated Build Pilot Program in just 13 months,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance and MPP for Pickering-Uxbridge. “With this new state of the art facility, Durham Region residents will have much needed new long-term care spaces and our community will be able to access high-quality long-term care services faster close to home.”
“On behalf of Durham Region, I am thrilled to see this new long-term care home become a reality. This remarkable facility reflects the shared vision we all have for better health care and support in Durham Region,” said John Henry, Durham Regional Chair. “A vision of a place where we work to ensure that no one gets left behind or falls through the cracks. A place where quality of life is second to none, families continue to thrive, and our residents continue to say it’s the best place to call home. This new facility is a big step towards realizing that vision.”
Backgrounder: Behind the Scenes of Lakeridge Gardens
On July 28, 2020, the Government of Ontario announced a collaborative partnership with Lakeridge Health and Infrastructure Ontario to build a new, modern long-term care home on the site of the Ajax Pickering Hospital using an accelerated build process.
Lakeridge Gardens’ modern design, including best practices in infection prevention and control, will promote the health and safety of seniors with a range of needs and abilities. With this new state-of-the-art facility, Durham Region has much needed additional long-term care capacity, and the community has access to high-quality long-term care services.
Lakeridge Gardens by the numbers:
- Lakeridge Gardens stands six storeys tall and covers 273,000 square feet.
- There are more than 500 windows and 1,000 doors installed throughout the home.
- During peak construction, there were more than 600 skilled workers on site daily. This equals 4,800 working hours per day and a significant economic boost to our community and the province.
- During construction, 2,605 cubic metres of concrete were placed on the site. That is enough concrete to pave nearly 3.6 football fields.
- The build also includes the construction of a new parking garage. Once complete, this will create approximately 530 parking spaces. This includes more than 200 net new spaces for hospital and long-term care patients and residents, visitors, essential partners-in-care, staff, and physicians.
Resident-centred features in the home:
- In addition to bringing 320 beds to Durham Region, the home was planned with evidence-informed infection prevention and control (IPAC) measures and a modern design that prioritizes residents’ quality of life.
- The majority (75 per cent) of resident rooms are private. Each has a two-piece bathroom. The semi-private rooms have separate bedrooms with a shared bathroom.
- The home has some specially designed rooms to support bariatric resident needs.
- To promote socialization, the home features a landscaped courtyard, four balconies per floor, a hair salon, great room, gift shop, and multiple gathering lounges.
- A nine-station dialysis unit will also be housed on the first floor of the building. The new dialysis unit will mean an increased quality of life for residents who can access treatment in the comfort of their home. This unit will also be available to those in the community who require dialysis services.
- The second floor includes a specialized behavioural unit with access to a secure rooftop terrace.
- To promote IPAC best practices, the home is divided into 16-bed ‘clusters,’ each with their own dining spaces, sunrooms, lounges, and activity spaces. These clusters create a more comfortable, home-like environment and, if required, can support the cohorting of residents in an outbreak scenario.
Collaborating with the Durham Region community:
- In August 2021, Lakeridge Health launched the Long-Term Care Home Community Naming Survey. This survey was launched in 10 languages and gave Durham residents, local organizations, and Lakeridge Health team members an opportunity to share their perspectives and ideas for the home’s name.
- In total, Lakeridge Health received over 600 survey responses, 360 name ideas and helpful insights to ultimately name the home Lakeridge Gardens.
- Thanks to these contributions, the chosen name – Lakeridge Gardens – reflects the people, communities, patients, and families served each and every day.
- Lakeridge Gardens also embodies growth. Growth as we continue our journey to transform care and build a regional system of care and growth for the future residents and families who will call the new facility their home.
