Ontario funding hundreds of new or upgraded long-term care spaces

London, Ont. — New provincial funding will result in more than 100 new long-term care spaces in the London region and upgrades for hundreds of others.

Extendicare Port Stanley will get a new building, resulting in 68 new spaces and 60 upgraded spaces.

St. Joseph's Health Care London's Mount Hope Centre will be able to upgrade 160 long-term care spaces with a new building planned.

That new location will have accommodations for 337 beds.

And Southbridge Chelsey Park will undergo renovations to add 73 new long-term care beds and upgrade 87 other spaces.

Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek says the announcements are part of the government's 10-year plan to upgrade and expand long-term care.

"With today's announcement we now have almost 20,000 new and almost 16,000 upgrade spaces in the pipeline. And we're on track to create 36,000 new long-term care spaces over the next decade."

The goal of the investment is to modernize long-term care, reduce waitlists and end so-called hallway medicine.

Across Ontario, $944 million is being invested in 80 long-term care projects.