Grey Gables long-term care home in Markdale, Grey Highlands. (image supplied by Grey County)
Grey Highlands is taking another step to try and drum up interest in its mayor’s efforts at the county council table to revisit a costly expansion proposal for a Markdale long-term care home.
The municipality’s council passed a motion introduced by Mayor Paul McQueen at a recent meeting to draw up terms of reference for a Multi-Municipal Long-Term Care Working Group and invite neighbouring municipalities to participate with the plan of “working with the County of Grey to redevelop Grey Gables to a 128-bed (long-term care) facility as originally planned.”
A decision was recently deferred on a motion brought forward by McQueen at the Grey County council table to revisit discussion of the potential redevelopment of Grey Gables.
Two years ago, Grey County council voted to pause the redevelopment of the county-run long-term care home in Markdale over cost concerns, after estimates came in projecting the price would be more than $400,000 per bed for the construction of two facilities (Rockwood Terrace and Grey Gables) it had planned on building.
A report by the county’s Director of Finance Mary Lou Spicer at the time said the Grey Gables build specifically would require a $2.25-million levy increase, and pursuing both long-term care projects would have put the county near its annual debt repayment policy limit.
- Grey County Scuttles Redevelopment Plans For Grey Gables Amid Cost, Staffing Concerns
- County Council To Vote On Motion To Pause Grey Gables Redevelopment Plan
The county moved ahead with the redevelopment of Rockwood Terrace long-term care home in Durham, which must be updated to meet Class A standards in accordance with the Ontario Long Term Care Homes Act by 2025. Grey Gables long-term care home is already Class A, and does not require redevelopment to meet provincial regulatory standards.
The Multi-Municipal Long-Term Care Working Group was a joint-committee that disbanded in 2020 after the county rescinded a plan to sell Grey Gables. It involved Grey Highlands, Chatsworth and the Town of the Blue Mountains. The motion passed by Grey Highlands council last week is an attempt to strike a similar committee with municipal neighbours, with a new focus to push the expansion of Grey Gables at the county council table.
“Certainly from our motion that came forward last week at the County of Grey, it has been put on hold,” McQueen says. “But, I think it is instrumental that we do work and pull together concepts to work together with our neighbouring municipalities and see how we can move this forward.”