Rainycrest denied beds for special unit

After waiting since last fall for approval from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to get 32 beds for a special needs unit, Rainycrest Home for the Aged here finally got its answer yesterday.
No.
“It’s news, but it’s not the news we’ve been looking for,” Rainycrest administrator Kevin Queen lamented Tuesday, noting the answer came in the form of a letter from Gail Paech.
“I regret to inform you that we are unable to award any long-term care beds to your organization at this time as the evaluation of your proposal was not among the highest on the list,” the letter read.
With 64 beds up for grabs within the Kenora-Rainy River districts, four homes have been vying for a share. And as manager of two of the other three competing homes (Northwood Lodge in Red Lake and Pinecrest in Kenora), Queen isn’t expecting either of them to get the 10 and 12 new beds they asked for either.
By process of elimination, all 64 may be made available to Central Lodge-Birchwood Terrace, a 96-bed private facility in Kenora.
“This doesn’t mean they’ll automatically get the beds, though,” said Queen, clarifying Central Lodge will just be entering a new step in process.
But Central Lodge-Birchwood Terrace administrator Denise Miault said this morning she has yet to hear any news, good or bad, from the province.
In the meantime, Queen stressed Rainycrest will get a special needs unit to tend to mentally-impaired residents one way or another.
“We need it. We will work our resources to see it happen,” he vowed. “I’m not out of the running–I’m just looking for plan B or C.”
Information like costs for such a unit are being looked at but Queen admitted such numbers are hard to pin down when it isn’t known if the home will receive outside help or have to restructure itself.
In related news, Queen said he might have an ace up his sleeve as far as filling up some or all of the home’s 21 empty beds without the addition of a special needs unit.
“Something could be happening very quickly,” he remarked, though unwilling to reveal exactly what that will be.
There currently are 36 people on the waiting list to get into Rainycrest.