By Sue Tiffin

Work has begun to replace the roof of Highland Wood long-term care facility in Haliburton after roof leaks due to significant snow and ice build-up led to the evacuation of all 28 residents to other facilities in early February.

Ice build up has been removed by the HHHS maintenance team and the roofing contract has been awarded to Designed Roofing with the contractor on site this week.

“We are grateful for the extraordinary efforts of our maintenance team to remove the ice” said Carolyn Plummer president and CEO HHHS in a March 25 press release. “We are continuing to work with our insurance company to finalize a plan to complete the interior repairs. Once this plan is finalized we will be able to determine a timeline for reopening Highland Wood and for welcoming our residents home.”

In her March 2019 CEO report released March 28 Plummer stressed that the leaking roof had not occurred due to fault of the HHHS team.

“Our insurance company has completed detailed assessments of the roof; the roof inspector has stated that the early failure of the roof occurred suddenly without warning highlighting that there were no ongoing signs of water infiltration or roof leaks there were no signs of early failure or ongoing water seepage below the roof deck and there were no signs of previous water infiltration and/or corrosion of the steel decking.

“We welcome the opinion of the inspector that the HHHS team has been proactive in terms of meeting the needs of the overall roof replacement plan and that this incident was unpredictable and occurred suddenly without warning.”

Plummer’s report also states: “The Central East LHIN Placement Team has advised that based on legislation all Highland Wood residents will receive a relocation priority back to Highland Wood when it re-opens.”

A Highland Wood information hotline can be reached at 705-457-1392 extension 2400. Updates can also be found at hhhs.ca/news-announcements/highland-wood-updates.