- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

No one aspires to living in Long Term Care. Yet one in ten of us over the age of seventy-five will require this service in our lifetime. That ten percent will have complex health issues including end-stage illnesses and serious cognitive decline that will require specialized care.

Almost all residents of Long Term Care require some assistance with personal care, and one in three of them is almost completely dependent on staff for eating, dressing and getting to the bathroom.

The other nine octo- and nono-genarians out of ten among us will need other levels of service. Home therapies, communal meals, assisted living, 24-hour emergency response, housekeeping, or assistance with bathing and medications. These are the services of other agencies and residences.

"We want to provide the highest level of care for the most people with the resources available, now and into the future," said Lynne Johnson, Director of Long Term Care for the County of Grey at a meeting at the Durham arena last night. There are currently 11 licensed long term care homes in the County, 8 private (three soon to be amalgamated into one in Owen Sound) and 3 municipally run by the County.

The recommendation currently on the table at Grey County council is to upgrade Rockwood Terrace Long Term Care Home, at or near its current site in Durham, to meet the standard required by the province to retain the Home's licence when it expires in 2025, and to further expand it to include the sixty-six licensed spaces now at Grey Gables in Markdale. No long term care spaces would be lost in the process and the province has provided significant subsidy for this upgrade.

More significantly, the recommendation includes asking for expressions of interest from providers of assisted living and memory care services to purchase Grey Gables and make those services available in Markdale. According to staff, planning studies show this level of residential care will help fill a significant service gap for the growing senior population of South Grey, and the sale would be dependent on the quality of any proposal.

"We have no intention of recommending to Council that they put a "For Sale" sign at the end of the driveway," said Kim Wingrove, Grey County CEO.

The timeline for a decision has not been definitely set, but if the provincial government does not see progress on a viable upgrading plan, of this or any of the other class B or C facilities in the province, it has the authority to re-allocate those spaces to a less-resourced area of Ontario.

21% of the costs of running the three County-run long term care facilities – approximately 11 cents of every Grey County tax dollar - is carried by the 47,000 taxpaying households of Grey County. To the degree that there will be operating efficiencies and profits from the sale of Grey Gables , this is a fiscal decision.

The County Council, at which Owen Sound has two representatives – Mayor Ian Boddy and Deputy Mayor Arlene Wright –will discuss the recommendation to amalgamate beds at a new Durham-area facility next on May 11.