At the June 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, Colliers presented an update on the Victoria Manor Master Plan, which is meant to guide investment decisions for the rest of the facility’s useful life and assess options for continuity of service. The full presentation and meeting minutes can be viewed on our website.

An overview of the project’s progress to date was given, which includes 10 steps.

Completed steps:

Steps that have been completed include asset inventory, facility condition assessment, capital cost forecast, maintenance program and property appraisal.

Through the facility condition assessment, Victoria Manor was found to be in generally ‘Good’ condition, with short term maintenance costing $276,000 in the next three years, and estimated Capital Plan projects budget of $1.66 million in the next 10 years.

The property appraisal found that Victoria Manor has a market value of $10.8 million as of March 31, 2023.

Ongoing steps:

Ongoing steps include stakeholder consultations, examination of service levels, benchmarking of Victoria Manor against other Long-Term Care facilities, and draft recommendations.

The first round of consultation included focus groups, individual and small group interviews, and a public survey.

Colliers asked the public to complete a survey on the municipality’s engagement platform, Jump In, Kawartha Lakes. This survey asked the public about current service levels questions such as ‘do the building and spaces of the home meet current and future needs?’ and ‘what changes would be needed to benefit the community in the future?’.

Through public consultation, Colliers found that public spaces were well designed and spacious, the facility has a strong reputation, and is in an ideal and accessible location in the community. Challenges include building performance, care delivery and resident experience.

Ongoing examination of service levels found that a significant number of current Ministry of Long-Term Care Design minimums are not met and that direct living areas are not designed to match the service level demands in current LTC environments. These include number of beds, door opening and corridor widths, turning circle radius and work areas for staff.

The second round of consultation will take place after recommendations are developed.

Future steps:

The last step that has yet to be initiated is to assess growth-related capital needs.

The project group is on track to complete the Master Plan on time, with the draft to be submitted for review by August, and the final by September 2023.