City set to lose third nursing home this year

Total LTC beds lost in Toronto reaches 650 in less than three years

- KENYON WALLACE

At a time when the supply of longterm-care beds in Toronto is nowhere close to keeping up with demand, another nursing home in the city is closing its doors, the Star has learned.

Staff and residents of Elm Grove Living Centre, a 126-bed facility in south Parkdale, were told last week by management that the home will be closing down, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

With its closure, Elm Grove becomes the third Toronto longterm-care home this year alone to announce its closure and the sixth facility in the city to shut down in less than three years.

In an emailed statement to the Star, Elm Grove administrator Raquel Legaspi-Labuntog said the more than 50-year-old, privately owned facility is run by a small number of families, many of whom are in their 70s and 80s and facing their own health issues, making oversight of the home challenging.

She added that the aging building does not meet the province’s new design standards for long-termcare homes and to upgrade the facility “would require us to relocate every resident and essentially rebuild the home from the ground up.”

Staff and residents of Elm Grove Living Centre in south Parkdale were told last week that the home will be closing down, sources say.