New Delhi long-term care home welcomes first residents: Simcoe Reformer
The story below first appeared in the Simcoe Reformer June 17, 2025 and was written by community reporter Jacob Robinson.
As Theo and Jackie Jacobs were ushered through the doors, a new era in Delhi long-term care officially began. On Monday morning, the couple – originally of Tillsonburg – were the first residents moved into a sparkling 128-bed facility that will replace the 60-bed building metres away on Gibraltar Street.
As part of the upgrade, peopleCare Communities – owners and builders of the facility – have announced they’ll add 100 healthcare workers, including 18 internationally trained nurses and two refugee families among the residents.
“This is the best part of the whole development of a new home is welcoming the residents,” said peopleCare Chairman and CEO Brent Gingerich, among the many staff members and company executives who were on hand to greet each resident and their family members. “We’re rebuilding older homes that were built in the ’70s and welcoming them to a new environment, which is substantially an improvement in all respects. It’s a lot more space, double the size or more. It’s really very exciting to welcome them today.”
Each area within the facility has its own lounge, dining room, activity space, and staff area. There’s also a barber shop, room for family members requiring space for a night, graphics on the wall depicting popular Delhi-area landmarks, and a portion of the building dedicated to residents living with dementia.
“It’s unbelievable, I can’t put it in words,” Jackie Jacobs said of her new home. “It’s beautiful, the size of it is really impressive. We walked down the hallway the other day and I said ‘I’m going to need my Dutch bicycle here’.”
Both Jackie and her husband never missed a recreational opportunity at their old home, and plan on diving right into offerings at the new space. The duo even helps organize games and programs for fellow residents.
“Our staff is super, duper,” Jackie added. “I can’t say anything bad about anybody there. I hope all the staff here are the same thing because they’re good.”
The Ontario government announced in April it is investing $155.5 million this year to help fast-track the construction of new or redeveloped long-term care homes. The funding is part of the government’s $6.4-billion plan to build 58,000 new and upgraded long-term care beds across the province.
This was the third opening ceremony peopleCare executives have attended in recent months. The company will soon open a home in Tillsonburg and have plans for other buildings in Stratford and Peterborough as well.
The company has garnered top marks from employees like Kristine Mitchell of Simcoe, the Delhi home’s executive director.
“I’ve worked for a lot of different organizations and what I can say is peopleCare brought me back to long-term care,” she said. “When they say that they put residents first and that they’re ‘changing the world of senior living’, they really are.”
Throughout the next month, Mitchell and her staff will be tasked with moving residents both old and new into the home and helping them adjust in their new surroundings.
“We really have to focus on making everybody feel special when they move in, that we’re hearing them and not rushing things,” Mitchell said.
“We have a really great core of staff that have been working here for many years, some of them have been here for 30 years and they’re helping to train and integrate the new staff.”
Mitchell pointed out that expansive outdoor spaces on the property will be well utilized, especially during the warmer months.
“Our outdoor areas are really accessible,” she said. “So we’re hoping that residents can spread out a little bit more and not be kind of living on top of each other like they were in the old home. We have a couple different areas for them to go.”
As his company continues to grow, Gingerich gave his team a public vote of support.
“Our staff put such a tremendous amount of work into getting this home to become a home, right from a vision and plans, drawings on a piece of paper to what we have here,” he said. “It’s the culmination of four years of work.”
Learn more
Read peopleCare officially welcomes Delhi LTC to the family
Working with our municipal and provincial partners to get new LTC Homes built and opened quickly, as part of planned communities of care, is peopleCare’s focus in the next four years. Stay up-to-date on our progress by visiting Designing Vibrant Communities.
