2023-10-03 05:22:23
Forty calls for tenders launched over the past two years for the addition of rooms in intermediate resources for seniors have been canceled due to lack of an interested developer, noted The Press. However, Quebec is seriously lacking places in these establishments which accommodate people with a moderate loss of autonomy.
“We are witnessing an almost complete halt to new construction of intermediate resources,” says the president of the Association of Intermediate Accommodation Resources of Quebec (ARIHQ), Carl Veilleux.
For him, the situation is “worrying”. Because as explained The Press in a file Monday, the shortage of accommodation places for seniors is already being felt heavily in Quebec. “There is an urgent need to act,” said Mr. Veilleux.
An intermediate resource (IR) is a living environment under contract with the government that offers support and assistance services. Different clienteles can be accommodated in an IR, such as people living with an intellectual disability or seniors. In this case, it is often the last stage of accommodation before the CHSLD.
923 fewer places
Between 2020 and 2022, 40 of the 66 calls for tenders to create places in intermediate resources for elderly people were canceled, we note by examining the website of the government’s electronic call for tenders system. In total, 923 places might not be added to the housing stock.
INFOGRAPHICS THE PRESS
Many cancellations
Last April, the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, for example, launched a call for tenders for an RI for seniors with 13 places on its territory. The appeal was ultimately overturned. “We did not find any takers for these calls for tenders during the first posting,” explains the spokesperson for the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, Catherine Brousseau.
On November 11, 2022, the CISSS de la Côte-Nord also had to cancel a call for tenders for an RI of 15 places in Sept-Îles.
The spokesperson for the CISSS de la Côte-Nord, Pascal Paradis, specifies that “various issues make it difficult to have promoters for calls for tenders”, including the fact that there are “ little infrastructure on the North Shore to allow a promoter to acquire a facility with the aim of operating an IR.” And for developers interested in a new facility, construction costs can be prohibitive, Mr. Paradis says.
In a report published last May, the Auditor General of Quebec analyzed all contracts awarded for accommodation by three health establishments between 2015 and 2022. Approximately 75% of these contracts concerned places in intermediate resources. At the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS and that of the West Island of Montreal, “most calls for tenders […] published had to be cancelled. The other establishment studied (CISSS Montérégie-Centre) seems to have been spared by this trend.
Costs too high
Mr. Veilleux explains that with inflation and the increase in land prices and construction costs, the compensation provided by the government for intermediate resources is no longer enough. The highest amount an IR can receive from the government is $202,000 per place per year. Which “greatly underestimates the real value of a room,” says Mr. Veilleux. According to him, it is currently “impossible to build for less than $300,000 per door”. For Mr. Veilleux, if new construction in RI is at a standstill, “it is not for lack of interested owners, but rather for lack of substantial financing”.
In comparison, a seniors’ home costs around $800,000 to $1 million per door […] Retribution [des ressources intermédiaires] is completely out of step with market cost.
Carl Veilleux, president of the Association of Intermediate Accommodation Resources of Quebec
For two years, ARIHQ has been asking the government to review its remuneration. “But nothing is moving,” laments Mr. Veilleux.
The Minister responsible for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, assures that she is “in the process of reviewing the model of intermediate resources”. She recognizes that it is “very difficult currently to find interested promoters” in calls for tenders. In particular, it provides for the upcoming transformation of around ten small private residences for seniors into intermediate resources. She also wishes to “review the reference framework for intermediate resources”, which sets their remuneration in particular. For Mr. Veilleux, “it is clear that intermediate resources represent the essential path to solving the accommodation problem in Quebec.”
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