The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist suntribune health care saturday june 15 2002 region decides to lend money wxttefepanbiirfi c7 20922003 raof3310sul2jitmalhjrr3easqh to nonprofit nursing homes by jeff mitchell staff writer its a precedent york region politicians are will ing to set providing funding for muchneeded longterm care beds at nonprofit nursing homes to help ease a shortage that could as years go by become a crisis members of the regions finance committee acknowledged as much thursday when they approved a 18million loan to help markhaven inc in markham with an expansion project the 132million project on parkway avenue will involve construction of a new 96bed facility to replace markhavens current 75bed home while the volunteer board thats been working on fundraising for the project had asked the region for more it appreciated the loan which will assist in the complex financing required to make the expansion occur the 18millibn loan would make a huge dif ference in our ability to proceed immediately said board member eric tappenden the region is charging the board 6percent interest on the loan less than it would have obtained elsewhere according to a report from the finance department it is estimated the board will save 99000 a year on debt charges with the regional financing were not looking for a handout mr tappenden said were looking for you to make a prudent investment of a relatively low sum the region willingly came to the table because the creation of new beds is essential said cao alan wells the region has identified a need for more than 5000 new longterm care beds over the next 20 years this is new ground for this type of loan he said but regional government has always been supportive of nonprofit charitable homes for the aged mr wells acknowledged similar organizations may come looking for regional funding as they con template costly improvements and expansions we may have to cprovide further funding because quite frankly theyre all in the same situa tion he said richmond hill mayor bill bell said more fund ing applications are inevitable i suspect well be dealing with more applica tions like this he said oms in motio join us for a jumping castle barbeque games prizes scholastic book fair summer treats all are welcome fun sun books for everyone 1 7 cornell meadows 1 light north of markham stouffville hospital on ninth line 905201 0358 20022993 paof33iqiat fitffialmjit3eas0h subscribe avc off single ticket prices theatre jit comedy- sk- special hay fever cathy jones the new shanghai featuring canadas own jistata actor writer and star of this zj circus spmwtdb meagan follows hour has 22 minutes v the drawer boy the truth about love tffzmwm marriage our i siusic sh and fami swm ivamas perfect christmas b jf guy 8 s i friends m laughs roadshow george ga0 ensemble i amidsummer i nights dream mad science presents dont try this at home newtons revenge take advantage of our chooseyourown series subscription offers and see the shows you want to see for a free brpfce call our subscription hotline today 9050559s5 ortollfree 18657688801 not available in 416 or 647 area codes i mem wibbpi 171 town centre bii markham ontario box office hours monday saturday 1100 am 6k0pm