Health and Community Services
Transportation and Works
July 2, 2015
Continuing to Support Health and Well-Being
RFP Released for Expansion of Long-Term Care Beds in Province
With ever increasing demands on long-term care, the Provincial Government recognizes the importance of expanding the availability of facilities to meet the needs of residents. To provide a long-term and sustainable solution to meet these demands, a request for proposals has been issued this week to engage private and non-profit providers for the provision of long-term care services in the western and central regions and on the Northeast Avalon. This process signals that the Provincial Government is moving forward with a plan to secure a total of 360 new long-term care beds on the island portion of the province.
“We continue to work to implement this innovative solution to address the growing demand for long-term care in our province. This request for proposals represents our latest step toward partnering with capable private and non-profit providers to help ensure the availability of high-quality long-term care services for our aging population.”
- The Honourable Steve Kent, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Community Services
Through this competitive selection process, the Provincial Government will identify experienced providers with an interest in building and operating new facilities in Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor area, Gander area, and on the Northeast Avalon. This will happen with the assistance of Partnerships BC, a Crown corporation in British Columbia with extensive experience in acquiring high-quality, reputable providers for governments through competitive processes. The new facilities will be constructed, owned and operated privately and will be fully integrated into the existing long-term care system with operators being required to meet provincial long-term care standards.
“The private and non-profit sectors in our province already play prominent roles in providing care to seniors through home support agencies and personal care homes, yet only a fraction of publicly-funded long-term care beds are provided by the private sector. As our population ages and the prevalence of chronic disease and disability increases, we must find innovative ways to meet emerging needs while ensuring the continued sustainability of our health care system. Looking to other provinces we can see the potential benefits of this concept for providing high-quality care at a lower cost.”
- Minister Kent
This initiative further advances the work outlined in Close to Home: A Strategy for Long-Term Care and Community Support Services. Budget 2015 supports this strategy as well through an investment of approximately $700 million in long-term care and community support services, including home support and personal care homes.
“Over $133 million is allocated this year in strategic investments in health care infrastructure and our government is committed to finding innovative ways to effectively and efficiently provide health care facilities throughout the public service. This includes exploring opportunities with the private and non-profit sectors. We look forward to administering the request for proposal process and overseeing the evaluation of submissions as part of this initiative to substantially increase the number of long-term care beds in the province.”
- The Honourable David Brazil, Minister of Transportation and Works
The Provincial Government has built five new long-term care facilities across the province since 2008, from Happy Valley-Goose Bay to St. John's, as well as protective community residences in Corner Brook, Lewisporte and Bonavista.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Provincial Government issued a request for proposals this week to engage private and non-profit providers for the provision of long-term care services in the western and central regions and on the Northeast Avalon.
- The RFP process represents an important milestone in the Provincial Government’s plan to secure a total of 360 new long-term care beds on the island portion of the province.
- The new facilities will be constructed, owned and operated privately and will be required to meet provincial long-term care standards.
- Since 2008 the Provincial Government has built five new long-term care facilities across the province, from Happy Valley-Goose Bay to St. John's, as well as protective community residences in Corner Brook, Lewisporte and Bonavista.
- Since 2004, the Provincial Government has invested approximately $1.5 billion in health care infrastructure, including repairs and renovations to existing facilities and for new equipment.
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Media contact:
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Tina Williams Director of Communications Department of Health and Community Services 709-729-1377, 728-2837 tinawilliams@gov.nl.ca |
2015 07 02 3:20 p.m.