ROUNDUP: Ontario Health Coalition’s Work on the Proposed New 30-Year License and Expansion for Orchard Villa

Posted: March 12, 2025

(March 12, 2025)

Orchard Villa Case

Far from the stronger accountability promised after horrific conditions were exposed by the military in long-term care, the Ford government has decided to reward the worst of the long-term care chain companies by approving a new 30-year license and proposal to expand operations at the Orchard Villa site. The Ontario Health Coalition, together with Cathy Parkes, the daughter of a man who perished in the home, sought a judicial review of the Ford government’s decision to grant an 88-bed expansion and new 30-year license for the 233-bed long-term care home owned by Southbridge at Orchard Villa in Pickering. The Coalition and the families asked the court to quash the license. The case was argued before a panel of judges at the Ontario Divisional Court on Thursday, October 17, 2024.

The advocates asked the court to require the Ford government live up to their own long-term care legislation. Under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act (2021), the government cannot issue licenses to long-term care home owners when their past conduct offers reasonable grounds to believe that the home will be operated in a manner that is prejudicial to the health, safety and welfare of its residents.

Two hundred and six of Orchard Villa’s 233 residents contracted COVID-19 and more than 70 died. At 30 deaths per 100 residents, Orchard Villa has one of the worst pandemic death records in Ontario.

The military exposed horrific conditions at Orchard Villa including residents’ mattresses set on the floor so they could not get up, lack of hygiene, and unsafe infection control and medication practices. They found the home was dirty with cockroaches and flies present, a rotten food smell, residents left in soiled “diapers”, residents left without hydration, improper feeding, a resident with a likely fractured hip left without proper care, multiple resident falls without assessment. There was poor access to supplies. Not only were residents on bare mattresses without linens, but also scarce wound care supplies, oxygen generators without oxygen, and broken suction units.The military’s findings were not an aberration. Orchard Villa has a history of chronic non-compliance and continues to be cited for poor care in a litany of inspection reports that describe many of the same issues exposed by the military.

The Ford government has gone to extraordinary lengths to force through the approval of Orchard Villa’s expansion, issuing an MZO forcing through the project, overriding a unanimous vote by Pickering City Council opposing the plan. The zoning order allows for an even more massive expansion down the road– up to three 15-storey buildings and a maximum of 832 long-term care beds and 670 units in a retirement home.

After the military report exposed horrific conditions in the long-term care homes to which they had been deployed including Orchard Villa, the Ford government promised unequivocally that they would bring in stronger accountability and fundamental change, stating that “everything is on the table” including potential criminal charges, justice for the families, license revocations, fines and more. Despite this, the Ford government is issuing new 30-year licenses and expansions for thousands of long-term care beds to the same for-profit long-term care chain corporations responsible for the lion’s share of deaths in the pandemic and for longstanding records of terrible care and living conditions.

Far from being held accountable, Southbridge – one of the for-profit chains with one of the very worst records in the pandemic, as well as before and after – is among the prime beneficiaries of the Ford government’s new licenses.

Please find below links to various materials the Ontario Health Coalition has produced when it comes to the proposed new 30-year license and bed expansion for the Orchard Villa Long-Term Care for-profit home, based in Oshawa. We are currently raising funds for the legal action on the Ford government’s decision to grant the new 30-year license and massive expansion to this for-profit Long-Term Care home with one of the worst pandemic death records in Ontario. If you or someone you know can help, please donate to our legal fund.