Meno Ya Win Health Centre aims to increase long-term care beds

Superior Morning5:10Long Term Care Beds in Sioux Lookout

The Meno Ya Win Health Centre is looking to add 76 long term care beds. The proposal would allow people in Sioux Lookout and the remote First Nations to stay closer to home.

While Thunder Bay continues to grapple with a shortage of long-term care beds, the mayor of Sioux Lookout, Ont. says his community is facing a similar problem.

The Meno Ya Win Health Centre in Sioux Lookout wants to add more than 70 long-term care beds, said Doug Lawrance.

The facility currently has 20 beds — not nearly enough he said — especially to accommodate people from remote First Nations in the area.

"Would you say to your mother 'you need to move to Sioux Lookout to go into long-term care?'"

"Because that's what's happening in Sioux Lookout and the northern communities," Lawrance continued.

"We're being forced to send people away from their home at a time of life when they should be closer to home."

The bed shortage in the Sioux Lookout area means people are being forced to go to other places, like Thunder Bay, Rainy River and Kenora, Lawrance said.

Culturally appropriate centre

Prior to becoming mayor, Lawrance was involved in the planning stages for Meno Ya Win's proposed 96-bed long-term care facility.

The centre is better suited to the residents it serves, Lawrance said.

"For the 30,000 people who live here — not just the people who live in Sioux Lookout — but the 30 remote First Nations north of Sioux Lookout, it's designed and programmed to provide culturally appropriate care," he said.

The Meno Ya Win centre has things like traditional food, full-time interpreters, and traditional healing programs, as well as amenities like a ceremonial room and a smudging room.

Plans call for the expansion to be connected to the hospital.

There's no word yet from the province on whether it will fund the expansion, Lawrance added.

Put beds 'where people need them'

The waiting list to get into one of Meno Ya Win's existing beds is five years, said Lawrance. "20 beds for a population of 30,000," he reiterated.

"I mean you can do the math, it's not very many."

Recently, St. Joseph's Care Group in Thunder Bay confirmed it's trying to keep more than 100 beds open at its Bethammi Nursing Home in the city.

• Thunder Bay's St. Joseph's lobbies LHIN to keep Bethammi Nursing Home open

Lawrance said he understands the need for long-term care in Thunder Bay, but all solutions can't be Thunder Bay-centric.