Deal between province, city clears path for private LTC development near Riverside Hospital

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The half-billion-dollar deal announced last month between the City of Ottawa and the province has cleared the path for a privately operated seniors retirement community to be built on land near Riverside Hospital, even though it does not meet the city’s original intended of that land.

The project, by private, for-profit operator Schlegel Villages, will include a 256-bed long-term care home and an adjoining 15-storey retirement residence.

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Last summer, city council approved a report recommending the city charge The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) $12.9 million to use the site for the Schlegel Villages development because it did not meet the intended use of the land which was for non-profit health care. The city sold the surplus land around the Riverside to TOH in 2005 for $1. That deal included an agreement that the city could claim back ownership of the land if it wasn’t used for non-profit health-care purposes.

But under the $543-million deal announced by Premier Doug Ford in Ottawa on March 28, the city has transferred the right to receive that $12.9 million financial compensation to the province.

The province has spent billions in recent years to expand for-profit long term care homes, including some with the worst records during the pandemic.

Joel Harden, NDP MPP for Ottawa Centre, says the deal is essentially a gift to the private long-term care operator and does not make sense for taxpayers.

“This is public infrastructure and we have a real need for non-market housing, non-profit long-term care, congregate living, why are we giving this gift to Schlegel Villages?”

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Schlegel Villages is one of six of the largest private long-term care operators in Ontario that are facing class-action lawsuits alleging gross negligence during the height of the pandemic. The lawsuits were recently certified, which means they are allowed to proceed, but none of the claims has been proven in court.

A Schlegel spokesperson previously told CBC that the company followed the guidance of Ontario’s chief medical officer of health during the pandemic.

In a statement, The Ottawa Hospital said the development at Riverside, which is now a day hospital, will ensure more access to long-term care beds for those who need it. The hospital, the province and the city have now finalized planning approvals and are proceeding with the development plan for the project.

“TOH looks forward to working with the province, the City of Ottawa and Schlegel Villages to complete the planning of this new development over the next couple of years,” said hospital spokesperson Rebecca Ableson.

The reassignment of the Riverside lands to the province when it comes to financial considerations was a “non-negotiable” part of the $543-million deal between the province and the City of Ottawa.

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City Manager Wendy Stephanson said there will be no “loss of property tax dollars” as a result of the agreement.

Schlegel Villages is also slated to build a seniors retirement community on the current site of the Civic hospital after the new campus opens in 2028. The long-term care home planned for the Civic site will include 320 new beds, according to the hospital.

The land the Civic is located on is the subject of a similar agreement with the city to continue its use as not-for-profit health care. The Riverside development is slated to open in the next few years, according to the hospital. The development on the old Civic site would be built after its new campus opens in 2028.

Harden said he was disappointed to learn for-profit long-term care was also part of the future plan for the Civic site.

“This is public infrastructure. I had hoped the Civic could be a hub for seniors that would be non-profit.”

The deal between the province and the city included, among other things, uploading responsibility for Highway 174 to the province and identifying two city sites for modular housing. There will be a new police operations centre in downtown Ottawa.

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