Groundbreaking for new Casey House HIV/AIDS health care centre

TORONTO, March 25, 2015 /CNW/ - With 1 in 120 adult Torontonians now HIV positive, more people are living with HIV in Toronto than ever before. Responding to this growing and evolving need, Casey House is building a new, modern and greatly expanded home for advanced HIV/AIDS care at the corner of Jarvis and Isabella Streets. On Monday, March 30, Casey House will host a groundbreaking ceremony to launch the construction.

DATE & TIME: Monday, March 30, 2015, 3:30 pm
LOCATION: S/E corner Jarvis & Isabella Streets
RECEPTION TO FOLLOW: At ETFO, 136 Isabella Street

Dignitaries in attendance will include the Premier of Ontario. Also in attendance will be Casey House clients, volunteers, donors, staff and government and community partners.

Designed by renowned architect Siamak Hariri, the new 58,000-square-foot health care centre will be located at the corner of Jarvis and Isabella Streets, adjacent to the current facility. The project involves renovating an existing heritage property and incorporating a new modern addition. The award-winning design will ensure that Casey House clients will continue to be served with excellence and compassion in a beautiful and home-like environment, in keeping with the vision of its founders.

Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the redevelopment is a build-finance project with Infrastructure Ontario. Thanks to the generous support of its community, Casey House has raised additional funding through a capital campaign.

The expanded site will enable Casey House to more than double its current care capacity, and allow for Casey House's new model of HIV/AIDS care with more efficient, seamless consolidation of all programs and services under one roof. Key to Casey House's future plans will be the introduction of a new Day Health Program that will improve health care for the growing number of vulnerable Torontonians living and aging with the complex health care challenges now posed by HIV/AIDS.

QUOTES:

"Since our founding by volunteers in 1988, Casey House has been a pioneering leader in Ontario health care, continually adapting to the many changes in Toronto's ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic and the needs of our clients. This redevelopment is the newest and very exciting next step in that evolution, as it will allow us to serve many more of Toronto's vulnerable people living with HIV/AIDS, with a wider array of much-needed services." - Gillian Stacey, Chair, Casey House Board of Directors

"More people in Toronto are living with HIV than ever before, and the need for specialized HIV/AIDS health care has grown faster than our ability to provide care within the limits of our current building. We're very pleased that when we open our new doors at the end of 2016, our clients will continue to be served with excellence and compassion in a beautiful and home-like environment, in keeping with the vision of our founders." - Stephanie Karapita, CEO, Casey House

KEY FACTS:

• More people in Toronto are living with HIV than ever before: More than 1 in 120 adults in Toronto are now HIV positive.
• Although treatments have improved greatly, HIV/AIDS remains a very complicated chronic disease, which can be difficult and expensive to treat, particularly as an individual ages or if they experience complications or do not access care.
• Casey House provides care for people living with HIV/AIDS who are medically complex. Many of our clients are coping with five or more serious illnesses in addition to their HIV infection.
• Without this facility expansion, the need for specialized care for people at the advanced stages of the disease will outstrip Casey House's current capacity. This redevelopment will serve this growing demand and address the future sustainability of advanced HIV/AIDS care in our community.
• Key to Casey House's new model of advanced HIV/AIDS care will be the introduction of a Day Health Program, bringing multiple health care services under one roof and more than doubling our care capacity.
• Ontario's first hospice, Casey House set the standard for compassionate health care outside a hospital setting. Founded in 1988 by volunteers including June Callwood, Casey House has continually responded to the dynamic evolution in the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic by introducing an array of innovative and vital health care services.
• Casey House's pioneering health care leadership continues today through plans for a new approach to care in response to the new challenges of people living with HIV/AIDS. The new Day Health Program will be the next step in Casey House's ongoing response to the need for advanced HIV/AIDS care in Toronto.
• The new 58,000 square-foot facility has been designed by award-winning architect Siamak Hariri of Hariri Pontarini Architects and will feature the restoration of one of the original mansions of Jarvis, coupled with a purpose-built contemporary health care addition.
• The new Casey House facility is slated to open at the end of 2016. Updates and photos of the construction process will be frequently updated online at http://www.caseyhouse.com

About Casey House:

Casey House is a specialty HIV/AIDS hospital with community programs including home nursing care and outreach. Founded in 1988, we were the first freestanding HIV/AIDS facility in Canada. Our commitment is to provide compassionate health care for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, in collaboration with our communities. http://www.caseyhouse.com

SOURCE Casey House Foundation

For Casey House - Kathleen Sandusky, Communications Specialist, 416-434-7763, [email protected]; For Architectural Inquiries: For Hariri Pontarini Architects - Vanessa Guillen, Director, Marketing and Communications, 416-507-4597, [email protected]