A long-term care home is a health care setting that residents live in, often for years. Its millwork has to feel like home, stand up to daily cleaning and mobility equipment, and keep medications, chemicals and records secure. In Ontario, the Ministry’s Long-Term Care Home Design Manual sets space and design standards that many of these pieces follow directly. Here is what the manual means for millwork, and what else to plan.
The Long-Term Care Home Design Manual, 2015, applies to new and redeveloped homes under the province’s program. The current version was approved in January 2023 and updated legislative references without changing the physical space requirements. Its Part 2 design standards use “must” for mandatory items, while its best practices are optional, and Part 3 relaxes some standards for renovations of existing homes. Confirm with the operator and architect which parts apply to the project, and read the current manual for the full wording.
Beyond the closet, the manual also requires storage for resident belongings outside the bedroom, which often means a lockable storage room with shelving.
Each resident home area, which serves up to 32 residents in a new home, must include staff work space. The manual calls for a work area for documentation and team activities, with secure storage for resident care records, and signage at the work stations. These stations work like a smaller nurse station: charting surfaces, computers, phones and lockable storage, designed so staff can see the corridor while staying approachable for residents and families. See our article on nurse station millwork.
The manual requires secure storage in several places: a secured space for medications and medication carts, a secure space with lockable cupboards for care supplies and equipment, secure storage for housekeeping and dietary chemicals, and a secured area for hazardous maintenance materials. Plan cart parking and charging areas with the millwork, since medication carts need to roll straight into locked storage, and the manual requires continuous mechanical ventilation where batteries are charged. Specify locks and keying with the operator.
Lounges and activity rooms need shelving and storage for program supplies. Where residents can use appliances, such as in a family kitchenette, the manual requires a switch that lets staff turn them off, which needs coordinating with the electrical design. See our guide to kitchenette millwork for appliance and sink details.
Clean utility rooms need storage and counter space, and soiled utility rooms need counter space and storage for collection equipment, with hand sinks in both. Staff change areas need lockers. These back-of-house rooms take hard use, so durable laminate, solid surface or stainless tops and sealed edges pay off.
Long-term care homes are covered by Ontario’s PIDAC best practices for environmental cleaning, which apply to all health care settings: surfaces should be cleanable, able to withstand repeated cleaning and compatible with the home’s disinfectants. The aim is to meet those rules without making the home feel clinical. Woodgrain high-pressure laminate gives the look of wood with a cleanable surface, solid surface tops resist moisture and can be repaired, and rounded edges and corners protect residents. In secure or dementia units, the operator may also ask for recessed or low-profile pulls. Check every material against the disinfectants the home uses; see our guide to caring for millwork surfaces and our article on laminate grades.
We build institutional millwork in our Vaughan plant, including solid surface tops and lockable storage, and our drafting team issues shop drawings for review before production so the operator, architect and IPAC team can check them against the design manual. See our elder care case study and institutional millwork, or send us your drawings.
The Long-Term Care Home Design Manual requires a clothes closet for each resident with at least 0.56 m² (6 sq. ft.) of floor space, tall and deep enough to hang and store clothes. For renovations of existing homes, the minimum is 0.46 m² (5 sq. ft.). Portable closets must be a non-tipping design.
Counter space for grooming items, a mirror, and accessible individual storage for each resident’s personal items, with separate storage for each resident in shared washrooms. Cabinets must not block the 1.524 m wheelchair turning circle.
Each dining area needs a servery for assembling and serving meals, and a physical solution, such as doors, that restricts resident access to the servery and steam tables while they are hot. A staff hand wash area must be in or next to the dining area.
Secure space for medications and medication carts, lockable cupboards for care supplies and equipment, secure storage for resident care records, secure storage for housekeeping and dietary chemicals, and a secured area for hazardous maintenance materials.
Woodgrain high-pressure laminate gives a wood look with a cleanable surface, solid surface tops resist moisture and can be repaired, and rounded edges and corners protect residents. All materials should be checked against the home’s disinfectants.
