Ontario increases direct daily care for long-term care homes
New PSW positions to be created
Monday August 25, 2008 -- Camille Jensen
The Ontario government has released new funding to increase the amount of direct daily care hours residents receive in long-term care homes.

On Aug. 19 the government announced it would be providing $23.3 million to support the creation of 873 new personal support worker positions (PSW) for long-term care homes across Ontario.

Janet Lambert, executive director of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association (OLTCA), says the addition of 873 personal support workers is a step in the right direction.

“The sector is pleased with these new positions,” says Lambert. “It will help homes across the province deliver the level of care that residents expect and deserve.”

The additional front-line staff will increase the amount of average paid hours of direct daily care a resident receives to 3.26 hours per day of nursing, personal support and programming, according to a Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s press release.

This is the first round of funding, as promised in the 2008 budget, to increase the average paid hours of direct daily care per resident to 3.5 hours by 2011, through the creation of 2,500 PSW positions and 2,000 additional nursing positions.

“PSWs are the front-line caregivers, as well as the registered staff, and it will be noticed by the residents that there will be more hands on deck to care for them,” says Lambert.

She says long-term care homes should be able to find extra PSWs because they are more available for employment than nurses in the province.

David Cutler, president of OLTCA board of directors says he’s also pleased by the recent funding announcement, which will allow long-term care homes to begin to hire new staff, enhancing services and care levels in the homes.

He adds more funding is needed for long-term care homes to keep pace with the increasing demands on the sector.

While the announcement helps push Ontario closer to the Canadian average for hours of care per resident, per day, Lambert says more still needs to be done.

“We are glad the government has recognized this, we are glad for the recent announcement and we are hoping for more good news soon.”

For more information on the government’s announcement, click here.

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