Staffing shortages hitting beleaguered Ontario home-care sector, organization says
An organization representing Ontario home-care providers says the same factors leading to staffing shortages throughout the workforce have left the already beleaguered sector in crisis.
Home Care Ontario says that before the COVID-19 pandemic, providers fulfilled requests for care 95 per cent of the time.
As of Dec. 31, 2021, the agency says, that number had dropped to just 56 per cent.
Home Care Ontario says some 4,000 nurses have left the home-care sector since the onset of the pandemic.
It says the situation is even more dire given the high number of staff absences as workers are exposed to or infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The organization says the shortage is also putting added strain on Ontario's hospital system, as the latest numbers from the province show 582 patients would be eligible to leave hospital with publicly funded home care, were the resources available.
"We're being deluged with calls and we do not have the staff to respond," said Sue VanderBent, CEO of Home Care Ontario. "There are no longer enough nurses and personal support workers in the system to provide people with the help they need at home."
The organization said staff in the sector are paid less than their equivalents in other parts of the health-care system, though they perform similar work.
For example, personal support workers are paid at least $5 per hour more if they work in long-term care homes or hospitals, Home Care Ontario said.
The agency, whose members employ 28,000 health-care workers across Ontario, is urging the government to pour $460 million into the sector to remove "wage inequities that have worsened a pre-existing staffing crisis."
"Government needs to do everything in its power now to ensure the province is not in a similar situation during future waves of the pandemic," VanderBent said. "That begins with prioritizing home-care funding to help stabilize this essential pillar of our health-care system."
In its fall economic outlook, released in early November, the provincial government pledged an additional $549 million over three years to home and community care to expand home-care services, funding an estimated 28,000 post-acute surgical patients and up to 21,000 patients with complex health conditions.
The government said it would help in providing nursing and therapy visits and personal support services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.