Province announces lots of money to be spent on long term care workers - no word on where they are going to find people to train and nothing on what they will be paid.

By Staff

March 17th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Ontario government is providing up to $1.25 billion to long-term care homes this year to hire and retain thousands more long-term care staff across the province, to continue increasing the amount of direct care time provided to residents.

This is part of the government’s historic four-year, $4.9 billion commitment to hire and retain more than 27,000 registered nurses, registered practical nurses and personal support workers over four years and ensure residents receive, on average, four hours of direct care per day by March 31, 2025.

This is the reality for many seniors – it aint gonna be home sweet home.

“In 2018, we inherited a broken long-term care system and status quo that was no longer working so we introduced a historic plan to fix long-term care,” said Paul Calandra, Minister of Long-Term Care. “With the largest investment in long-term care in Ontario’s history, we’re hiring more staff to increase daily direct care for residents to ensure they can continue to connect to the care they need in the comfort of their long-term care home.”

This is the third and largest annual funding increase to date that long-term care homes are receiving to reach the system-level average direct care targets set out in the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. Direct care is hands-on care that includes personal care, such as help with dining, bathing and dressing, as well as other important tasks such as helping residents move and providing medication.

As a result of the government’s ambitious plan, more people are working in long-term care than ever before. This year’s funding will help achieve targets of an average of three hours and 42 minutes of daily direct care for residents as well as increasing hours of care from allied health professionals such as resident support aides, physiotherapists and social workers to 36 minutes per resident, per day.

The government is fixing long-term care to ensure Ontario’s seniors get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve both now and in the future. This work is built on four pillars: staffing and care; quality and enforcement; building modern, safe and comfortable homes; and providing seniors with faster, more convenient access to the services they need.

This is the image governments are using – but what is the reality?

Quick Facts:
The government provided the following:

Achieving the system-level average target of four hours of direct hands-on care per resident, per day is being made possible by annual funding increases to long-term care homes:

$270 million in 2021-22
$673 million in 2022-23
$1.25 billion in 2023-24
$1.82 billion in 2024-25

What it did not provide was – where are the people who are going to be hired going to come from?
When they are found – who is going to train them?
Will they be certified and will there be a program that ensures they are given upgrades regularly?
And finally – what will they be paid.

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2 comments to Province announces lots of money to be spent on long term care workers – no word on where they are going to find people to train and nothing on what they will be paid.

  • Jim Thomson

    You forgot where will they find housing they can afford.

    • Sharon Jack

      An excellent question. I am a PSW in Hamilton where the average wage right now for a PSW seems to sit st about $18-20 per hour. The average 1 bedroom apartment in Hamilto is going for about $1500. Housing and financial experts advice your housing should account for 30 percent of your income. This means I would need to make $5000 per month in order to afford a 1 bedroom apartment. At $20 per hour this means I would need to work 250 hours a month or 63 hours per week. The situation is even worse for anyone working at or slightly above minimum wage. Is it any wonder so many people (including myself) are homeless in Hamilton right now? I don’t claim to know all the answers but definitely things need to change with higher wages and lower rents.