Redeveloping Rockwood Terrace

Grey County is redeveloping Rockwood Terrace in Durham. A new facility is being built to expand services for seniors. The new home will be larger, and will include 128 long-term care beds. The new home will be located beside the existing building in Durham.

Redevelopment Project Update

September 2023

Grey County Council has awarded the early-works tender to JT Excavating Ltd to prepare the site for the significant new build scheduled for 2024-2026. Early works include leveling the property, servicing the site with water, sanitary sewer and stormwater infrastructure to meet current and future needs, and creating new roadways around the project site. The works have been designed in collaboration with the Municipality of West Grey and costs will be shared with Grey County paying approximately $2,575,000 and West Grey contributing $700,000.

Announcement

Key Services and Features

Long-Term Care

The Rockwood Terrace Redevelopment plan includes 128 long-term care beds.

Long-term care provides residents with accommodation and access to 24-hour nursing and personal care. Residents generally require help with most daily activities and require a referral from a doctor to be eligible for placement into a long-term care home.

Long-term care services at Rockwood Terrace include:

24-hour nursing care and a medical doctor regularly visiting the home and on call
Personal care and assistance with hygiene and bathing
Healthy living, recreation, and socialization
Nutritious meals
Housekeeping and laundry
Medical and clinical supplies

The Ontario Government pays for nursing and personal care in long-term care homes. Residents pay for accommodation.

Long-Term Care Design Principles

Resident experience is central to all planning and design of the home. We engaged with residents, family members, and staff working in the home to ensure our designs will work for everyone in the home. These are the four key design principals we considered.

Resident Room Design

Ensure resident privacy by creating individual space (even in a basic room with a shared bathroom).
Room design supports infection prevention and outbreak isolation practices.
Limit sound and odour transmission.
Provide visual privacy by minimizing shared sightlines (residents can’t see one another in the washroom or when receiving care).
Support staff safety (providing adequate space on either side of the toilet to support care)

Infection Control

Improved laundry system separating dirty and clean laundry through barrier washers (dirty laundry goes into a machine dirty in one room and comes out clean in a separate room).
Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) is more easily supported through room design.
Laundry chutes minimize contaminated laundry travelling through the building.

Dining Room Enhancements

Larger dining room to support two smaller 16-resident dining spaces to create a more pleasurable dining experience with less noise and more community feel.
Space to support safe storage of wheelchairs and walkers

Community Feeling

Nooks and seating alcoves for residents to gather for visits with each other or guests (indoors and outdoors).
Cognitive stimulation stations.
Barrier free paths of travel with no dead ends.
Natural walking routes to support residents who enjoy wandering.
No resident rooms at the end of a path to decrease residents wandering into someone else’s room.

Funding Redevelopment

Redevelopment costs are currently estimated at $96.7 million. The project capital costs will be funded over 25 years through a combination of Provincial funding, Grey County reserves, and tax levy.

Actual project costs will not be known until a tender has been issued.

The Province will cover approximately 30% of the cost of constructing 128 long-term care beds. Grey County will receive an annual transfer over 25 years. The County is required to secure a loan to pay for full construction costs up front.