The residents and staff of Southlake Residential Care Village, and local dignitaries, relived the long-term care home’s ground-breaking ceremony and ribbon-cutting to celebrate its 20th anniversary Dec. 16 in Newmarket.
The care home also held an open house to connect residents and the public with various health services available to seniors in the community.
Southlake Residential Care Village continuous quality improvement manager Siew Lee Brett said it feels incredible to be able to mark this occasion.
“We have come full circle,” she said. “It’s a momentous milestone for Southlake Village.”
"The Village" opened 20 years ago when 92 residents moved from another home on Davis Drive and Lundy’s Lane, now the location of the Southlake Regional Health Centre Medical Building.
Former Southlake CEO Dan Carriere recounted the closure of the previous home of 130 beds, which had fewer beds than licensed due to some sections of the building being deemed by the government as inappropriate for patient care. It was under threat of closure, he said.
“It was very important for the hospital to maintain those beds, and even if possible, increase the number of personal beds…. There was a threat of losing those beds,” Carriere said. “So the hospital stepped in. We felt it was a worthy cause to come in. We bought the licence.
“It was a very special project for our board and myself. It saved beds,” he added. “It ensured that people growing old, who need these types of accommodations, would have these accommodations … closer to home.”
Carriere further said his mother came to live at Southlake Residential Care Village.
“She loved the environment, and she loved the place. This was her home,” he said, adding that she would eschew talking about the clean facilities to instead discuss “the care, the compassion, she got from staff here.”
Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy offered her congratulations to every one who is a part of the facility.
“You have successfully provided a warm, comfortable home,” Gallagher Murphy said. “Thank you, once again, for your dedication and commitment.”
Resident Helen Reeds has been there for five years and said it is a wonderful milestone.
Asked about the staff, Reeds said “I think they do a wonderful job.”
Brett said they are committed to continuous improvement.
“We can only go up,” she said. “We are not perfect, but we have checks and balances in place, and we want to improve. We want to impress upon the community that we are accountable to our residents and to them.”
