Open Letter to Government

Seniors and Their Families Urge Queen's Park to Address Funding Crisis in Long Term

Toronto (March 25, 2003)– Seniors and their families have taken the long term care funding crisis directly to the provincial government pushing for increased operating dollars in the upcoming budget March 27.

In an open letter to the provincial government, the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS) collected close to 1,500 signatures from residents, families, boards/committees of management and staff from across the province. The letter was delivered to the Premier, the Minister and Associate Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Opposition leaders and health critics.

OANHSS CEO Donna Rubin explains, “The additional $100 million we received last summer was a good start, however, the government needs to do more.” She says provincial operating funding has not kept pace with the changing needs of residents who are older with more serious chronic illnesses and require more complex care than they did 20 years ago.

The group estimates that a further $215 million for Ontario’s long term care facilities and $170 million for community services in the 2003-04 provincial budget is needed to meet those needs.

OANHSS organized the campaign to get those who see the need first-hand to speak out for Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens. Long term care continues to be the poor cousin of the health care system. Less than 8 per cent of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s $22 billion budget is spent on the operation of long term care facilities.

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study commissioned by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care ranked the province last out of ten jurisdictions in meeting residents’ needs.

OANHSS is the provincial association representing not-for-profit providers of long term care, services and housing for seniors. Member organizations operate over 25,000 long term care beds and over 5,000 seniors housing units across the province.

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For more information:
Debbie Humphreys
905-851-8821 x 233

An Open Letter to the Government of Ontario

From Residents, Family Members, Boards/Committees of Management of the Province’s Not-For-Profit Long Term Care Facilities, Seniors’ Housing and Community Services.

We wish to thank the Ontario Government for increasing its funding for the operation of long term care facilities by $100 million over the past fiscal year and the recent infusion of $25 million for community services.

These were important steps in the right direction.

More needs to be done. We urge you now to ‘go the distance' in injecting a further $215 million into Ontario’s long term care facilities and $170 million for community services in the 2003-04 provincial budget.

The undersigned are counting on you. Please ensure that long term care facilities and community service providers receive the operating funding needed to provide the level of care and services that all of us can be proud of. Help make Ontario a leader in its commitment to, and compassion for, the most vulnerable in our society.

Signed By:

C	ontact OANHSS

Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes & Services for Seniors
7050 Weston Road, Suite 700, Woodbridge, Ontario L4L 8G7
(P) 905-851-8821
(F) 905-851-0744

OANHSS Privacy Policy

OANHSS members include not-for-profit providers of long term care, services and housing for seniors in Ontario.
Members include municipal and charitable long term care homes, non-profit nursing homes,
seniors' housing projects and community service agencies.