The loss of provincial funding is being blamed for the removal of several specialized care beds from Guelph’s health care system.
St. Joseph’s Health Centre employs 650 people and runs 240 long-term care beds.
They focus on patients
Twelve of those beds, focused on less intense restorative care, are partially supported through a grant from the provincial government of $1.12 million – equivalent to about 6.5 per cent of St. Joseph’s budget.
That money is running out – which meant staff at St. Joseph’s had to figure out how to make up for the loss while minimizing the effect on Guelph’s larger health care sector.
In the end, the decision was made to close five beds in the centre’s complex medical unit, where patients typically stay at St. Joseph’s for around six months.
Patients that would occupy those beds will instead be sent to Grand River Hospital’s Freeport site in Kitchener, or other locations in Waterloo-Wellington.
Jennifer O’Brien, the facility’s interim president, said the decision was made because there is more capacity for complex care than some other types.
When it comes to restorative care, she said, there are only 15 beds in all of Guelph.
“Closing 12 restorative beds in our community would be devastating to the flow of patients,” she said.
“The least impact that we could see was with the complex medical (beds).”
Additionally, 15 jobs are being eliminated from the centre – although between early retirements and transfers elsewhere the facility, officials hope only three people will be laid off outright.
St. Joseph’s hasn’t had to make such significant cuts since moving to its current Westmount Road facility in 2002, O’Brien said.
