Thursday, November 7.2019 Milton Canadian Champion SALE RUNS FROM FRIDAY NOV. 8 TO SUNDAY NOV.10 > arden £35 niyo Family ow owned and operated in ince 1975 ; Tree Ornaments 25% OFF! Ready- res zee) A -- for ap NE Fhel: ele _ Artificial Berries i LN Buy 2, get (of equal or lesser va 1 FREE ue) Holiday Lights 30% OFF! OR let us customize just for you! -------- -- r-------- @ OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEKEND! FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY ONLY! iS Great g Greens Sale! § 3 BUNCHES FOR $18! Mix and match from 8 fantastic varieties! "us Hours: Monday - Saturday 9-5. sunday & #-8689, 5 Side Road Milton ORrL9 A B NEWS 'A LOT OF FRUSTRATION' FELT OVER WAIT FOR A i COUNCILLOR Continued from page 1 room and 249 people for a private room in Allendale. On average, only one bed becomes available each month. The Milton facility of- fers 200 beds -- 118 private rooms and 80 beds in 40 ba- sic rooms, with one respite bed. As an issue that he's been working on for a number of years, Ward 1 Coun. Colin Best said he often receives phone calls and emails from people trying to assist their loved ones to move into a long- term home. "There's a lot of frus- tration that people have in trying to get the beds," he said. He added that if they do getabed, it'd be something far away from Milton -- like in St. Catharines. This is also one of Good- ban's concerns. Right now, she has put their names in three other locations -- Georgetown, Oakville and Burlington. Applicants are allowed to choose up to five facilities anywhere in Ontario. Though she ultimately prefers for him to stay closer to home. "lI don't want to lose contact with my husband of 52 years, my best friend for over 54 years," she said, worried that she won't be able to visit him as much due to her own physical limitations. The local and regional councillor said that while there's nothing on the im- mediate horizon to ad- dress the shortage and long waitlist, some solu- tions are coming in the next year or two. Allendale expansion Best said areporton the implementation plan of the expansion which will provide seniors with housing and possibly long- LENGTHY WAIT FOR LONG-TERM BEDS. LOCAL IMPACT ADDITIONAL LONG-TERM BEDS AND FACILITIES ARE SORELY NEEDED TO CUT THE WAITLIST AND HELP SENIORS IN NEED. term care -- will come be- fore regional council in the first quarter of 2020. The concept plan envi- sions a multi-storey build- ing with multi-uses. The proposed complex would also house the seniors' ac- tivity centre and other fa- cilities. Other developments Laura Zilke, communi- cations. strategist with the Mississauga-Halton LHIN, said in an email that a commitment of 192 new long-term care beds has been made for the commu- nity of Milton, with an ap- proximate service date of 2023-2024." Best noted that the town is looking at several possible locations for the aforementioned Schlegel Villages facility and that the town chief administra- tive officer is working on a report for council. The province has also pledged to create 15,000 new long-term care beds and renovate an addition- al 15,000 beds over the next few years. In a statement, MPP Parm Gill said that they are "one step closer to ful- filling this commitment with our recent call for ap- plications from current and potential long-term care home operators to build new long-term care beds and redevelop exist- ing ones in Ontario." "Our government is prioritizing projects that end hallway health care by addressing the alternate level of care issue, crisis wait times, population growth, the needs of in- creasingly complex resi- dents, and an aging popu- lation. That means ensur- ing that long-term care beds are available where and when people need them in Milton and across the province," Gill said. More work to be done Best acknowledges that what he's seen so far of the additional beds still pales in comparison to the needs. Citing funding as one of the biggest chal- lenges, the councillor hopes that the town, the region, the provincial and the federal governments will continue to work to- gether to get things done. "We're on the same . page now, we've got the re- gional review behind us and the federal election done," he said. As for Goodban, she'd like to see those projects come to fruition. "It's not just me. There are hundreds of people that get swept away to the side," she said of the grow- ing older demographic in Milton and some of the town's most vulnerable citizens. "It's areally, real- ly sad situation." "If they're going to build something, they re- ally need to hit the dirt now," Goodban said. | STORY BEHIND | THE STORY | After coming across her post on | social media, we reached out to | Laraine Goodban to leam more | about her struggle in dealing with the multi-year wait-list for a basic bed at Allendale.