To: MPP David Piccini, Premier Doug Ford,
We oppose Southbridge Health Care's long term care plan for 65 Ward St., Port Hope.
The proposal is seven storeys. The first floor is administrative, a dead zone without space for residents. The main outdoor area is surrounded by three 85 foot high walls and a 100-space parking lot.
Most LTC residents have dementia and many are exit-seeking. Long corridors stacked in the sky is an outdated plan for this level of care. The best architecture for LTC has proven to be a collection of family style units with protected outdoor access to pathways, shade trees and gardens.
This building is oversized for the small lot and would tower over the neighbourhood, disturbing the peace with increased traffic, giant delivery trucks, noise and light pollution.
After buying Hope St Terrace in 2015 Southbridge cut full time staff, food quality, building maintenance and medical services. Their manager, ExtendicareAssist, had to close shop in the US after paying a $38 million fine for defrauding Medicare, billing for medical services not provided. Southbridge homes have achieved Ontario's highest pandemic death rate at 9%, among the highest in the developed world.
Blaming older buildings for their own stinginess and failure of care, Southbridge asks to consolidate their existing 157 beds in Port Hope. Ontario taxpayers will pay them for 35 more, creating 192 beds. The proposal would replace our historic hospital and shade trees with a 100 space parking lot, a pre-fab tower large enough to be the most imposing structure in town, engineered to extract maximum dividends from our frailest elders.
Meanwhile, for two years, residents and staff would live meters away from a noisy, toxic construction site.
Violating the height bylaw would be a gift to developers, setting a precedent for more and more hi-rise buildings in our residential neighbourhoods, until Port Hope's unique character, heritage and quality of life is lost forever.
While acting like a slum landlord, Southbridge siphons our provincial tax dollars to pay dividends to its millionaire and billionaire investors. Let them find a bigger site and build a more humane building.
We demand a better solution to the long term care crisis.
See: https://www.myporthope.ca/65-ward-street
Updates
November 16, 2021
im still reading all the stories people are sharing here and its clear we all want the same thing for our seniors. been spending my time looking into the company track record and the stuff i am finding is just as bad as we thought.
November 16, 2021
i cant believe how many people are signing this and pushing back against these plans. its clear that everyone is tired of seeing our seniors end up in these soulless concrete towers. we have so much momentum right now so keep talking about this with your neighbors.
36 Comments
It's like building a jail in the middle of a residential neighbourhood. Giant NO THANKS
Is this how one would wish to see one's loved ones end their days? Southbridge have shown that they do not care for Port Hope, rather than their profit. We do not need this eyesore in our town.
This seven-storey monolith signals a first instance of turning this quaint small town into just another extended borough of the "golden horseshoe". Once precedent is set, there will be no turning back for future construction of such buildings , anywhere within the municipality.
I work in LTC. Elderly people, in general, prefer to be closer to the ground. The higher from the ground, the more they wish to get down. Multiple stories invite 'exit seeking' and suicidal ideation, ie. wanting to jump.
It appears Southbridge is far more interested in warehousing older adults (for profit) than providing a real home -like atmosphere.
We do not want a new care facility of that size in port hope.
The proposed warehouse/storage facility is almost as big as their contempt for people.
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To: MPP David Piccini, Premier Doug Ford,
We oppose Southbridge Health Care's long term care plan for 65 Ward St., Port Hope.
The proposal is seven storeys. The first floor is administrative, a dead zone without space for residents. The main outdoor area is surrounded by three 85 foot high walls and a 100-space parking lot.
Most LTC residents have dementia and many are exit-seeking. Long corridors stacked in the sky is an outdated plan for this level of care. The best architecture for LTC has proven to be a collection of family style units with protected outdoor access to pathways, shade trees and gardens.
This building is oversized for the small lot and would tower over the neighbourhood, disturbing the peace with increased traffic, giant delivery trucks, noise and light pollution.
After buying Hope St Terrace in 2015 Southbridge cut full time staff, food quality, building maintenance and medical services. Their manager, ExtendicareAssist, had to close shop in the US after paying a $38 million fine for defrauding Medicare, billing for medical services not provided. Southbridge homes have achieved Ontario's highest pandemic death rate at 9%, among the highest in the developed world.
Blaming older buildings for their own stinginess and failure of care, Southbridge asks to consolidate their existing 157 beds in Port Hope. Ontario taxpayers will pay them for 35 more, creating 192 beds. The proposal would replace our historic hospital and shade trees with a 100 space parking lot, a pre-fab tower large enough to be the most imposing structure in town, engineered to extract maximum dividends from our frailest elders.
Meanwhile, for two years, residents and staff would live meters away from a noisy, toxic construction site.
Violating the height bylaw would be a gift to developers, setting a precedent for more and more hi-rise buildings in our residential neighbourhoods, until Port Hope's unique character, heritage and quality of life is lost forever.
While acting like a slum landlord, Southbridge siphons our provincial tax dollars to pay dividends to its millionaire and billionaire investors. Let them find a bigger site and build a more humane building.
We demand a better solution to the long term care crisis.
See: https://www.myporthope.ca/65-ward-street
Updates
November 16, 2021
im still reading all the stories people are sharing here and its clear we all want the same thing for our seniors. been spending my time looking into the company track record and the stuff i am finding is just as bad as we thought.
November 16, 2021
i cant believe how many people are signing this and pushing back against these plans. its clear that everyone is tired of seeing our seniors end up in these soulless concrete towers. we have so much momentum right now so keep talking about this with your neighbors.
36 Comments
Please stop this ill-advised scheme. Please don't reward this company - Southbridge homes achieved the highest Covid19 death rate in Ontario.
It's like building a jail in the middle of a residential neighbourhood. Giant NO THANKS
Is this how one would wish to see one's loved ones end their days? Southbridge have shown that they do not care for Port Hope, rather than their profit. We do not need this eyesore in our town.
This seven-storey monolith signals a first instance of turning this quaint small town into just another extended borough of the "golden horseshoe". Once precedent is set, there will be no turning back for future construction of such buildings , anywhere within the municipality.
I work in LTC. Elderly people, in general, prefer to be closer to the ground. The higher from the ground, the more they wish to get down. Multiple stories invite 'exit seeking' and suicidal ideation, ie. wanting to jump.
It appears Southbridge is far more interested in warehousing older adults (for profit) than providing a real home -like atmosphere.
We do not want a new care facility of that size in port hope.
The proposed warehouse/storage facility is almost as big as their contempt for people.
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Please stop this ill-advised scheme. Please don't reward this company - Southbridge homes achieved the highest Covid19 death rate in Ontario.