St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Lasalle site opens

St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre in Sudbury celebrated the grand opening of Phase 1 of the Lasalle site project Monday.

Several dignitaries were on hand, including Health Minister Sylvia Jones.

"Congratulations on behalf of Premier (Doug) Ford and our entire government," Jones said.

"I want to thank Kari and the team here at Saint Joseph's Health Centre, along with your volunteers and your donors, all of what you have done to bring this project to life."

The state-of-the art facility features big windows, wide hallways, a full gym and areas for assessments.

"We can help them rehabilitate as it relates to cooking meals and working around the kitchen," said Vicki Lejambe, chief of nursing.

"They now have this dining area that they can actually start to socialize with other patients. And like I said, the care is still high-quality by a really great team, but now it's just going to be that much better."

The Lasalle site was built to replace 60 beds currently offered at the Clarion Hotel, which were only expected to be open for three months as a temporary solution for what officials thought was just a COVID surge.

"What we realized is that the need for rehabilitative beds was actually greater than what we had anticipated," said Kari Gervais, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre.

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"Our average occupancy stayed at around 97 per cent year over year. So clearly, we needed a purpose-built permanent space. And that's what we're opening today."

Gervais said Phase 1 means that 36 beds have been opened, with five patients already in their rooms.

"We will be phasing in the remaining 31 patients over the next week," she said.

"As patients are being admitted, we are closing the beds at the Clarion behind them."

Gervais said with construction of Phase 2 well underway, the hope is that a grand opening will be held this time next year for that portion of the building, bringing the facility to a total of 72 beds.