NIPIGON — Changes to a provincial government program will affect long-term care funding in Nipigon.
Nipigon Mayor Suzanne Kukko said that her delegation had a complex conversation with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care at the Ontario Good Roads Association Conference earlier this month.
Kukko said a funding program — the Elderly Capital Assistance Program — which the Nipigon District Memorial Hospital had been receiving for long-term care has been ended, with no additional support funding for long-term care in rural areas.
“We were funded through that, I am told, because we don’t have enough of a population to support private long-term care,” said Kukko.
With a population of 1,300, and the hospital serving an area consisting of about 3,000 people, “that’s still not enough to support a private long-term care facility coming into our town,” Kukko said.
Nipigon District Memorial Hospital CEO Cathy Eady said that private companies do not find operating a long-term care facility in rural communities sustainable.
Without that funding program, rural hospitals are at a disadvantage in sustaining their operations.
“I’m told that when a program is created to apply for dollars to hire a full-time registered nurse for our long-term care, our facility could not access it because our facility is funded under the [Elderly Capital Assistance Program],” said Kukko.
However, Eady confirmed that the Ministry of Long-Term Care is aware of the situation and has provided some revenue streams for rural hospitals to access.
"It’s been brought up not just by our facility but by other facilities as well and they are working on it," Kukko added.
Another point Kukko raised when speaking with the ministry is a planned expansion project for their long-term care, which was announced in 2021 and would include an additional 30 beds.
Kukko said the ministry assured her that the money for the long-term care expansion is still available, and they are on the list of hospitals who have requested the funding for beds.
“Although she is happy to hear that the hospital will receive the funding, Eady acknowledged she doesn't know anything about what that means exactly in terms of how to proceed with the hospital's expansion.
"I don't know what that means. If we should build it first and then wait for the funding or wait for the funding and then build," said Eaby.
Nipigon Hospital is also expected to contribute ten per cent to the new build, which will be a challenge.
Eaby stated that the hospital will need to fundraise its portion in hopes that special interest groups and the municipality can contribute.
"We don't have any industry here," said Eady. "So we'll have to ask the municipality to see if they can help."
The ministry advised Kukko to speak with Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu to see if the federal government will front the funding for the expansion.