SooToday.com readers help name new long-term care home

NEWS RELEASE

EXTENDICARE (CANADA) INC.

************************* Overwhelming response to poll asking for input on new long-term care home name

Extendicare (Canada) Inc. polled residents, family members, staff, volunteers and community members to find out which name was a favourite

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON (November 7, 2011) - Extendicare (Canada) Inc. is currently building a new state-of-the-art long-term care home to replace some of the beds in its three locations in Sault Ste. Marie.

To get community input on the name of the new home that will be across from Sault College on Northern Avenue, the company posted a poll on SooToday.com

Residents, staff, family members and volunteers also participated in a paper poll at each of Extendicare’s current long-term care sites.

“It is important that the community feel engaged and excited about this project,” said Extendicare Tendercare Administrator Shelley McEachern. “It’s very exciting for us to know that the community is interested in this project and wants to participate in some way.”

Participants were given four name options; Extendicare Sault Ste. Marie, Extendicare Maple View, Extendicare Cedars Heights and Extendicare Pawating.

The response that Extendicare received was extraordinary.

From September 20, 2011, until September 26, 2011, nearly 2,500 votes [most of them cast online] were counted.

The result was very close with Extendicare Sault Ste. Marie and Extendicare Maple View receiving most of the votes; therefore, the company will combine the names and the home will be called Extendicare Maple View of Sault Ste. Marie.

“We would like to thank everyone that took the time to vote in our poll,” said Tim Lukenda, president and CEO of Extendicare Health Services Inc. “We are proud to be providing residents with a beautiful new home. By providing current and future residents with the opportunity to name the building, we are hoping that it makes it feel more like their home.”

The building will feature resident rooms arranged in neighbourhoods of 32 to create a more residential feel within the larger building and to increase each resident’s own living space.

Common areas are designed to create a greater sense of community and provide many of the amenities that our residents were accustomed to throughout their lives, including a hair salon, a chapel and a cafe.

Each of the neighbourhoods will have access to a fireplace lounge and outdoor patios for comfort and social interaction.

All of these features will assist our residents in feeling at home in their new surroundings.

Construction began this spring and Extendicare is on schedule for completion in late 2012 or early 2013.

About Extendicare (Canada) Inc.

Extendicare (Canada) Inc. was founded in Canada in 1968 and remains owned and operated by Canadians.

It is one of the largest providers of long-term care in Canada with a total of 81 nursing and retirement centres and capacity for just over 11,000 beds.

It also provides home health care and corporate wellness services through ParaMed Home Health Care.

For more information about the company, please visit our website.

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