By David Pattenaude, Petrolia Topic
Thirty-six nex beds opening up in Petrolia
PETROLIA – A $12-million, 62-bed addition at Fiddick’s Nursing Home in Petrolia will be complete in April.
An open house is being held at the new addition April 12 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 60 residents from the existing nursing home will move into the new addition April 15 and 16, said Fiddick’s administrator Mike Fiddick this week.
The move from the existing 60-bed nursing home to the new one will allow renovations to be carried out in 60 rooms at the existing home.
After renovations are completed this fall, most of the renovated rooms will be larger, Fiddick said, and 36 residents will move back from the addition to the renovated home.
When complete, the renovations will leave Fiddick’s with a total 130 nursing home beds and 34 retirement home beds.
A grand opening will be held in the fall to celebrate the renovations and the addition — where there are still vacancies for rooms.
Up to 50 workers, both part-time and full-time, will be needed to work in the retirement and nursing homes at Fiddick’s. A job fair is being held March 26 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and March 27 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Lambton College’s Employment & Learning Centre — 4248 Oil Heritage Rd. in Petrolia.
Positions being sought include registered practical nurses, personal support workers, and workers for the laundry, dietary and housekeeping departments.
The Fiddick’s expansion — and a similar 36-bed expansion at Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia — were approved by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in September, 2011 after they were announced in March, 2010 by the Erie-St. Clair Local Health Integration Network.
The expansions at the two nursing homes are expected to help eliminate a shortage of long-term care beds in Lambton County and free up acute care beds in Bluewater Health’s two hospitals.
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