GORE BAY鈥擲t. Joseph鈥檚 Health Centre, as of July 1, has taken over the operations of the former Manitoulin Lodge Nursing Home, with the Town of Gore Bay becoming the owner of the building. St. Josephs and the Town of Gore Bay have entered into a lease agreement for the use by St. Josephs of the building and related property.
At the council meeting on June 23 Gore Bay Mayor Ron Lane told council, 鈥淥n July 1, St. Joseph鈥檚 will take over the operations of the Manitoulin Lodge. They are not planning a big event but we will see a new sign, 鈥楽t. Joseph鈥檚 Lodge,鈥 on the building as well. Other than that they are being low key, there will not a big party or dinner taking place.鈥
鈥淢y understanding is St. Joseph鈥檚 is retaining all staff at the Manitoulin Lodge, so it will be business as usual, but the operations will now be under St. Joseph鈥檚,鈥 said Mayor Lane. 鈥淥n June 30 we the town will become the owner of the (Manitoulin Lodge) building and property. Harry (Schlange) our former town manager has been working on that with lawyers, and we will be providing a charitable receipt to Jarlette Health Centre for a donation.鈥
Mayor Lane also said there is no doubt local residents have heard the blasting of rock on the west bluff recently, in preparation for the new building on Armstrong Road.
鈥淭here has not been a formal announcement from the Ministry of Long-Term Care and Housing (MOHLTC) of permission to build a new long term care home,鈥 said Mayor Lane.
鈥淎t this time only some preliminary lot servicing work has been done on the site (i.e. water/sewer and the driveway),鈥 he said.
Mayor Lane also stated St. Joseph鈥檚 is a non-profit corporation, while Jarlette was a for profit corporation. 鈥淪t. Joseph鈥檚 doesn鈥檛 have the same funding sources a private company like Jarlette sometimes has. They have two nursing homes in Sudbury as well as two rehabilitation centres. They have been involved in health care for a long-time.鈥
鈥淧art of what they do for fundraising, is to garner donations,鈥 said Mayor Lane. 鈥淪t. Joseph鈥檚 has asked our council and the other communities on Western Manitoulin if they would consider a donation.鈥
鈥淚n my discussions with St. Joseph鈥檚 I asked why they haven鈥檛 reached out to other donors and they said there are some who would like to donate but wondered what local communities are doing. The Smith Family Foundation has already made a significant donation to the project, but there are others out there that could help as well,鈥 explained Mayor Lane.
鈥淎 total of $25,000 for us to put toward this important project has been suggested,鈥 said Mayor Lane. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know about other councils, but can we build this into our budget $5,000 per year for five years. How does council feel about that?鈥
鈥淥ur staff and council have put hundreds of hours into this proposed project which is going to benefit everyone on the west end of Manitoulin and a donation like this shows our ongoing commitment to the project,鈥 said Mayor Lane.
Council voted unanimously in favour of the request from St. Joseph鈥檚.
