Stratford hospital group announces long-term care home for Avon Crest property

Just hours before heritage advocates were set to speak in favor of Stratford council revisiting its previous decision to not grant heritage designation to the city’s first public hospital, Revera Canada announced its intention to build a new long-term care home on the property once the Avon Crest building is demolished.

Revera, the company that owns Hillside Manor in Perth East, joined the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance Monday to share their intent to enter into a long-term land lease agreement to allow Revera to build a new 128-bed care home on the Stratford General Hospital property at 86 and 90 John St. S.

“We simply do not have enough local long term-care beds,” alliance president Andrew Williams said in a media release. “As a result, patients end up staying in hospital far too long waiting for the specialized long-term care they actually need. This chronic situation leads to longer wait times for other patients requiring hospital services.

“Once all necessary government approvals are secured, our long-term land-lease agreement with Revera will contribute to the solution by creating increased local capacity. Moreover, it will improve hospital care by freeing up beds for those patients waiting for surgeries or requiring admission through our emergency department. Revera’s tangible, time-sensitive, funded proposal will allow our former Avon Crest site to be the setting for yet another century of health care.”

As part of an announcement of 166 new long-term care beds and 282 upgraded beds across the riding by then-Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece just more than a year ago, Hillside Manor was approved for 38 new beds and 90 upgraded beds for a new purpose-built 128-bed long-term care home in Stratford.

Prior to that, Revera had applied to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in 2017 to relocate its 90 beds at the aging Hillside Manor to another facility in London, which would have closed the Perth East facility. That application prompted a loud outcry from area residents and politicians about the need for more beds in Perth County and the impact that relocating 90 beds would have on surrounding communities.

The ministry ultimately announced the beds would stay in Perth County and Hillside Manor would remain open. Following that decision, Revera leadership remained tight lipped about how it would address the issues around aging infrastructure at Hillside Manor that led the company to attempt its relocation. With this announcement, Revera officials confirmed the company’s Perth East home would close once the Stratford facility is ready, likely in 2028.

“With its proximity to the hospital and to local amenities, this is an ideal location to renew Hillside Manor to support the needs of current and future generations of local seniors,” Revera Canada president JP Cadeau said in the press release. “The larger, new home will not only provide a bright, welcoming, comfortable home for more local seniors in need of specialized long-term care, it will create new employment opportunities during its construction and once open. We’re proud of the legacy of compassionate care at Hillside Manor and excited to be getting closer to making the renewed home in Stratford a reality.”

To make way for the new home, the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance plans to demolish Avon Crest, the original Stratford hospital building that has been vacant since 2018. Once the long-term care home is built, the hospital group says it will serve as a catalyst to redeveloping the remaining land on the two John Street South properties, with an initial focus on discussions around increasing accessible housing options in the city.

Last week, Williams told the Beacon Herald the alliance had extended the planned demolition’s tender period for the second time to March 30 to give prospective bidders a chance to consider and incorporate a recent addendum to the project dealing with the management of hazardous materials like asbestos in the building.

Williams also said the hospital group had submitted nearly all of the necessary paperwork to the City of Stratford to secure a demolition permit for the building. Once the tender period closes and the organization has awarded the contract, likely in April or May, the final step before securing a permit will involve the contractor providing information to the city on the demolition’s methodology, Williams said.

The planned demolition of the 130-year-old building has been a flashpoint for a handful of local heritage and environmental advocates who hope the building can be refurbished and repurposed instead of torn down. Many of those advocates, including members of the Save Avon Crest group that has been running an ongoing public awareness campaign to drum up opposition to the demolition, were set to speak at Monday’s council meeting ahead of Coun. Cody Sebben’s plan to revisit the previous council’s decision not to grant the building heritage status.

“Since it was voted on by council, we’ve had an election and the majority of councilors are new,” Sebben said in a previous interview with the Beacon Herald. “To me, it’s really important because since last fall … there’s been quite a bit of public interest. A lot of people have been reaching out hoping to save the building. Once the site is demolished, there’s no turning back, so I think it’s important that this council have the opportunity to make that decision.”

According to a position paper published by Save Avon Crest earlier this year, keeping the building would prevent more than 130,000 kilograms of embedded carbon from being released into the atmosphere, and the group is urging city hall to direct its climate change program manager to investigate further . They also believe the city should explore whether or not the site might be suitable for development similar to the housing project happening on the old Victoria Hospital grounds in nearby London.

According to previous estimates from the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, the deteriorating Avon Crest building would require an investment of $25 million to restore and redevelop.

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