FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Promised Long Term Care Staff Critical to Government's Wait Times
Strategy
TORONTO (February 2, 2010) - Without funding
for additional staff promised by the McGuinty government in its
2008-2009 Provincial Budget, care levels in homes will continue to
decline and the sector will not have the capacity to ensure the success
of the seniors' elements of the province's Emergency Room - Alternative
Levels of Care Strategy (ER-ALC).
"OANHSS supports the Sharkey Report's call for an increase in
staffing to four paid hours of care per resident per day but the longer
we go without adding staff, the further homes will fall behind this
target," said Donna Rubin, CEO of the Ontario Association of Non-Profit
Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS) in a pre-budget presentation
today to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.
"Funding for the remaining 1,627 personal support workers and 1,380
nurses promised by the government two years ago is immediately and
desperately needed to meet the care needs of existing residents."
Over 76,000 residents live in Ontario's long term care homes and of
those, 95% need assistance with dressing, eating and toileting, close to
90% need help moving from bed to wheelchair and more than two thirds
suffer from some type of dementia.
With its ER-ALC strategy, the government is looking to place hospital
patients who no longer require the intensity of resources/services
provided in acute care settings (i.e. alternate level of care or ALC
patients) in the community with additional home care or assisted living
supports. This will result in long term care homes admitting residents
with the heaviest care needs without adequate resources to support
them.
"OANHSS members fully support initiatives aimed at ensuring the right
care in the right place, but the success of this strategy hinges on the
community and long term care home sectors having the staff and resources
to provide the appropriate level of service and right now we don't,"
added Rubin.
One of the greatest challenges homes face is caring for residents
with serious mental health issues and dementia that often result in
aggressive and unpredictable behaviour, without adequate resources.
OANHSS acknowledges that there has been recent government attention on
this issue and that the reports coming out of the various consultations
will be valuable for long-term planning purposes.
"What we need, however, and don't have, are immediate responses that
will give residents in long term care homes and their families the
assurance that they are living in safe and secure environments," said
Rubin.
In the 2010-2011 budget, OANHSS is also looking for funding to
support homes in managing massive system changes currently underway,
including meeting the regulations under the new Long-Term Care Homes
Act, as well as a commitment to annualize the one-time funding
provided to homes in 2009 to address increasing service and supply costs
and funding options for offsetting costs associated with building
maintenance and renewal.
OANHSS is the provincial association representing not-for-profit
providers of long term care, services and housing for seniors. Members
include municipal and charitable long term care homes, non-profit
nursing homes, seniors' housing projects and community service agencies.
Member organizations operate over 27,000 long term care beds and over
5,000 seniors' housing units across the province.
Attached is OANHSS's Submission
to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs: Building a
Seniors' Care Continuum.
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For further information, contact:
Debbie Humphreys
OANHSS
Work: 905-851-8821 ext. 233
Cell: 416-553-7401
