Thunder Bay hospital prepares for halt on transfer of ALC patients

The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is preparing for a two-month hold on transferring patients to a new seniors home this fall.

Two of the Thunder Bay's homes for the aged, Dawson Court and Grandview Lodge, will close this fall, meaning their 300 residents will move to the new Hogarth Riverview Manor on Lillie Street. During the move, the hospital may not be able to transfer patients to the new seniors residence.

"They will stop taking new clients from ourselves and other locations and they will start moving their patients over to the new facility," said Dr. Mark Henderson, an Executive Vice-President at the Health Sciences Centre.

Henderson said the hospital typically moves about two patients a week to alternative level of care facilities.

That option may not be available during transfer to Hogarth Riverview, he said. "During that time period, the regional hospital may not have quite the access to long term care homes that we may have under normal circumstances,"

A spokesperson for the Community Care Access Centre said about ten percent of residents at Dawson Court and Grandview Lodge do not want to move to the new facility, stating the majority of the reasons for not wanting to move include staying on the city's north side, and wanting to stay in a city-run facility. Hogarth Riverview Manor will be run by St. Joseph's Care Group in Thunder Bay.

The scheduled opening date for the Hogarth Riverview Manor is October 26.