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Pinewood Court residents relocated after flooding

Of the 61 residents relocated, 39 have been temporarily moved to Hogarth Riverview Manor.

THUNDER BAY - More than 60 residents at Pinewood Court Long-Term Care Home have been relocated after two broken water pipes caused substantial damage to the facility.

The break took place on Saturday afternoon at the facility on Walsh Street. Thunder Bay Fire Rescue crews were called to the building where they discovered water on the second floor of the East Wing. Residents living in the wing were immediately evacuated to another part of the building.

Pinewood Court is owned and operated by Revera Inc. and according to a statement issued on behalf of Margaret Collins, regional director of operations for the area, 61 residents have been relocated from their rooms after flooding caused substantial damage to the first and second floors of the wing. Collins added residents in other areas of the building have not been affected by the flooding.

As it will take some time to repair the damaged areas, some residents went to stay with family for a few days, and yesterday, 39 residents were temporarily relocated to Hogarth Riverview Manor Long Term Care, where our own staff will continue to care for them until their rooms at Pinewood Court are ready,” Collins said in the statement.

According to Tracy Buckler, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Care Group, Hogarth Riverview Manor was able to accommodate 64 additional residents due to empty beds that cannot be filled at this time because of a shortage of personal support worker staff.

This is two separate units that we had available for Pinewood Court,” she said. “They brought their own staff and their own supplies, everything their residents needed. It’s very disruptive to move a resident from a long term care home to another long term care home. They wanted to bring everything they could to make it as familiar for the residents being disrupted.”

Buckler added she was informed by Revera that the residents from Pinewood Court may be required to stay at Hogarth for one to two weeks. As for any additional costs that may be incurred by the temporary residents, through additional food or cleaning services for example, Buckler said they will work on a cost-recovery basis.

We are not here to make money, we are here to provide service and we would hope our long-term care partners would do the same for us if we were in a time of need,” she said.

There is no word yet on why the pipes burst or how long it will take to complete the repairs. An investigation is being conducted into the cause of the break and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care has been notified of the situation.

“We’d like to extend our thanks to our residents and their loved ones for their patience and understanding,” Collins said in a statement. “We are also grateful to the staff of Pinewood Court, staff at our other two long term care homes in the area, and our community partners for their support in minimizing the disruption for our residents.”



Doug Diaczuk

About the Author: Doug Diaczuk

Doug Diaczuk is a reporter and award-winning author from Thunder Bay. He has a master’s degree in English from Lakehead University
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