Nearly 100 Ontario nursing homes and long-term care residences missed this week’s deadline to install air conditioning in all resident rooms.
A spokesperson for the ministry says 529 of the province’s 627 long-term care homes were fully air-conditioned by Wednesday. But that still leaves 98 homes without AC in every resident’s room.
The ministry blames the delay on a variety of reasons, including global supply chain issues, COVID outbreaks and visitor restrictions, which in some cases has prevented contractors from entering the homes and completed the assigned work.
Electrical upgrades or changes to building structures are also required in some instances.