Fairvern’s relocation to lands near Huntsville District Memorial Hospital is being envisioned as an opportunity to firm up the creation of a campus of care around the hospital.
Pending Ministry of Health approval, a newly constructed Fairvern Nursing Home would be located in close proximity to Huntsville Hospital on donated lands, and serve as an anchor for additional development geared to seniors being proposed for that area. The land for Fairvern was donated by contractor/developer Pat Dubé, who owns about 32 acres of land along Muskoka Road 3 and Earls Road. He has severed four acres off those lands and donated the parcel to Fairvern for the home’s redevelopment. He also plans on developing additional housing specifically geared for seniors as well as a retirement home on neighbouring lands. In exchange, the Town of Huntsville has agreed to contribute $280,000 towards the construction of a road off Earls Road to connect to Fairvern’s new site. The road would also connect to Dubé’s proposed development, at a cost to be borne by the developer.
“We made that contribution so that Fairvern can go ahead,” noted Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison, who sees the area surrounding the hospital as a health care zone.
I think it further helps to cement that area as a health care related services area and it’s just one more anchor for the hospital. It’s all part of our grand vision to make sure that we keep acute services there where they are, and support it with related services around it. Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison
But the future of both the Huntsville and Bracebridge hospitals is still up in the air as work continues by the Muskoka and Area Health System Transformation Council to find savings and cohesion in the way health care is delivered in Muskoka and surrounding areas. “That’s one of the reasons why we continue in Huntsville to make sure that we are always demonstrating that that location for acute care services is ideal, because in part it’s geographically central to the area that Muskoka Algonquin Health Care [administrator of both hospitals] serves. It’s ideally located on two major provincial highways and Huntsville is a growing and vibrant community that I think is tough to be ignored by the Ministry of Health,” noted Aitchison.
All the things that we’re doing to make sure that Huntsville is a growing and thriving place, in my mind, it all relates back to demonstrating why acute care services have to be in Huntsville. Huntsville Mayor
Rob Laver, Chair for the Board of Fairvern, also sees the area as a ‘real campus of care’ when you include housing for seniors, professional medical buildings, Fairvern Nursing Home, a retirement home and Huntsville’s hospital. He said synergies could also be explored whereby Fairvern might be able to provide services to the additional seniors’ housing units proposed.
“There’s an opportunity, still unexplored of course, to provide meal services or laundry… in addition to what we would provide the residents of the home,” he said, adding that it would not only benefit Fairvern financially, but people in the community as well.
Fairvern currently houses 76 long-term care beds and is applying for an additional 20 beds as part of its redevelopment plan. The District Municipality of Muskoka has agreed to contribute up to $10.5 million toward the home’s redevelopment costs, with the remainder expected to come from the province.
“Between the two we’ve got the money to do the build,” said Laver, adding that the ball is now in the province’s court. “We’re waiting for them to come forward and give us the green light to go ahead and begin the building process.”
He said his board has some rough drawings on how a redeveloped Fairvern would look “but until the rubber hits the road, we don’t have anything specific yet.” He did note that the units would be contained in one building with three or four storeys in mind, although nothing is conclusive yet. Laver said the area proposed for Fairvern’s redevelopment is a desirable location as it offers full services and falls in line with the area earmarked by the Town for future growth.
Dubé said his own development plans are dependent on Fairvern’s approval.
“I would like to follow the same schedule that Fairvern follows,” he said.“The idea is to provide alternative housing for seniors with the proximity of Fairvern and being able to have a program that could be loaned to adjacent residents, so in other words they could take part in some of the day programming, perhaps take part in their meal plan and laundry plan,” said Dubé, whose vision is to provide housing for independent living for seniors with some services being made available through Fairvern. He said that particular plan is still being worked out and will fall in line with Fairvern’s redevelopment timelines, which again are contingent on Ministry of Health approval. Dubé did say he’s hopeful construction might begin in about a year. “That would be the hope. That’s what everybody is sort of gearing to.”
In addition, Dubé said his plan is to create a development site for a retirement home in order to attract an operator not unlike Chartwell or Rogers Cove. “It will be strategically located between Fairvern and the hospital. It’s just a perfect building site for a retirement home,” he noted.
If you’re interested in joining the Board of Fairvern, the board is currently looking for Directors. Please follow this link for more information.
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This proposal sounds too good to be true. We need more housing and services for seniors and a community that is planned as a cohesive unit right from the start is just what Huntsville needs.