Two hundred beds planned over the next year for technology-enabled senior housing in smaller, higher quality, more affordable, personalized environments.
Homecare Hub and Penguin Living announce the opening of their newest assisted living residences in Hamilton, Ontario. Their strategic partnership has focused on allowing people with care needs to remain in their communities by re-purposing, dated single family homes to private highly accessible residences. These residences can range from 1-3 bedrooms depending on the need. The scalable, cost-effective system addresses the urgent need for affordable and quality care for older adults.
The opening of their 3 houses in Warren Park last month marked the first set of many small-scale residential assisted living homes that will be created in Hamilton. Their first 30 beds are available now, with an on-demand system that allows for the system to scale up. Â As demand increases and more beds are requested, more beds are created, with the potential to create up to 200 beds over the next one-year depending on the need. The team notes that these homes can be created locally in patient's communities upon request, and 6-12 beds could be added weekly if the demand and funding were present. The rooms with services are generally about 30% lower priced than other comparable assisted living options.
Given the aging crisis, the lack of housing options for individuals with disabilities, and the inability to physically build enough Long-Term care facilities to meet demand, a new and innovative approach is warranted in caring for the aging population. Homecare Hub has been regarded by leading global experts as a "revolutionary" system for their ability to create new homes on demand, at a lower price point and higher level of quality than traditional larger institutional care facilities. Homecare Hub utilizes existing capacity within communities to reduce long-term care waitlists, and their partnership with Penguin Living to quickly spin up highly accessible homes within a few weeks, provides a much-needed solution to reduce the burden on health systems.
Homecare Hub is rolling out their solutions across Canada and the United States with homes available across Ontario and the state of Wisconsin, and are on the verge of launching in several more states and provinces.
The Penguin brand is well known for their excellence in renovation, and their foray into senior living has been a welcome addition to Homecare Hub. Penguin Living's outstanding design combined with their ability to create homes quickly, affordably, and in an accessible manner have made them a popular choice among residents.
The homes allow for a high degree of personalization, with language-specific homes and customized activity programming. Residents can cook supplementary meals for themselves, and features such as roll-in showers, private yards with green space, private bathrooms, and electric heat pumps exist as well. Leveraging an industry-leading network of care providers and innovative technology Homecare Hub can adjust the care depending on the patient's needs. These units can come with minimal care to look and feel independent or can be retrofitted to have Hoyer lifts as required.
"We are excited to work with the Penguin Living team. They create exceptional, accessible homes, and we're already seeing positive benefits for the initial individuals we have placed in our homes. This much-needed housing and care solution ensures there is an adequate number of beds to serve each community, allowing older adults to remain in their communities close to family and friends" stated Dr. Vipan Nikore, CEO, and Co-founder of Homecare Hub. Dr. Nikore, a former IBM software engineer turned physician, also serves as an internal medicine physician at the Trillium Health Partners & the Cleveland Clinic, is the Chief Medical Director of TD Bank, and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.
"We are pleased to be able to offer truly accessible homes as an alternative and new form of housing. We couldn't be more proud to partner with Homecare Hub", says Penguin Living CEO, Guy Solomon.
The creation of a new community in Hamilton is a crucial step towards the mission to create a new system as an alternative to large nursing homes, especially in a region facing a crisis of losing nearly 200 long-term care beds. "Our goal with launching homes in Hamilton is to be a part of the solution and alleviate the pressure on our health system" says Amy Abbott, Homecare Hub's Director of Nursing who previously served as a Long-Term Care inspector for the province of Ontario and has led operations and administration at several nursing homes.
There have been recent concerns around Hamilton's lack of Long-Term Care beds and significant wait lists, including the expected closure of Blackadar Continuing Care Centre which will leave many people with few suitable care and housing options.
"Our uniqueness is that we are demand-driven. We are capable of rapidly creating enough small assisted living homes to fill the gap in Hamilton, but we only create new homes as we fill up a prior tranche of homes. The biggest barrier in Ontario is funding, as typically long-term care funding is provided for large nursing homes. Those who hold or direct funding in any health system must be creative and innovative, and move quickly to meet the evolving housing and care needs of our aging population – otherwise, we are doing a disservice to a vulnerable population who deserves to age with grace and dignity. Alberta recently committed to create and fund 1600 small homes over the next 6 years, and hopefully Ontario will follow suit. If they do, I am confident we can solve Ontario's post-acute care crisis," notes Dr. Nikore.