THUNDER BAY -- The process of shuttering two long-term care homes was supposed to have been revenue-neutral but when their doors closed, the city was struck with a $2.1-million bill.
The municipally-run Dawson Court and Grandview Lodge homes were closed in early 2016 as their patients were telescoped into St. Joseph's Care Group's new, 512-bed Hogarth Riverview Manor.
While the Ontario government committed to fully funding the operations of the homes since 2009, it left the cost of ending their employment contracts in the hands of the municipality.
The $2.1 million cost will dig into the city's stabilization reserve fund, as not to impose a deficit on the 2016 municipal budget.
When council approved tha budget in March, city manager Norm Gale said he was "quite confident" the province would reimburse long term care costs.
"We did ask for those costs to be covered and the province wasn't willing to assume those costs," said Dawn Paris, the acting director of financial services.
Paris said the city will also assume the ongoing cost of Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) claims for affected workers.
Westfort Coun. and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee chairman Joe Virdiramo believes the province ought to bear the full cost of what amounts to a 1.5 per cent levy increase on the city's budget.
Virdiramo intends to raise the issue with Minister of Health and Long Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins at the Ontario Good Roads Association conference later this month.
"This was the first time in my recollection a munciipality had said, 'we want to get out of the two homes,'" he said.
"We worked with the government to replace those beds. We worked with the government in relation to the centre of excellence that St. Joe's is running now. We assisted in getting that going.
"However, we're still short in relation to our finances and we're going to ask the minister again if that money is forthcoming."
