Minister commends sector for embracing quality improvement
Partnership results in extraordinary progress
Monday April 18, 2011 -- Lisa Bailey
TORONTO - Long-term care’s commitment to enhancing care quality earned repeated thanks and praise from Ontario Health and Long-Term Care Minister Deb Matthews last week.

Addressing the Ontario Long Term Care Association (OLTCA) and Ontario Retirement Communities Association 2011 convention April 12, Matthews commended long-term care for partnering with the province to put residents first.

She described a number of home visits where she’s seen “some of the extraordinary improvements in care” such as reductions in pressure ulcers and fewer hospital emergency transfers.

Later, in a question-and-answer session, Matthews cited continued efforts to reduce transfers and to implement quality improvement initiatives as primary ways that long-term care can help the overall health-care system.

Quality improvement “comes with a price tag,” Matthews said, noting annual spending has increased to $3.8 billion now from $1.2 billion in 2003.

“You’ll hear people say that we’re spending too much, that we need to cut taxes, that that should be our priority. But I’m not one of those people,” she said.

“We’re getting good value for the money we are spending and we will continue to derive good value from the money we are spending.”

Matthews went on to remind delegates of the recently-announced budget measures, including three-per-cent funding increases for the next three years.

Linking staffing capacity to care quality, she said $40 million is being invested this year to fund an additional 1,100 personal support workers.

Matthews also acknowledged costs associated with the transition to the new long-term care regulations, “which is why we put an additional $15 million into the OA (other accommodation) envelope.”

Looking ahead, Matthews said “we need to continue to work together to provide the best possible care” for the growing aging population.

“We are very much focused on building other options for people to keep them in their own home and community as long as possible.

“That will mean that long-term care will change because the better job we do keeping people home for as long as possible, the people coming to long-term care will be sicker and need more care. That is the reality and we acknowledge that reality,” Matthews said.

As a result, she said, “now is absolutely the time to be looking forward (and) building on our success of the past.”

OLTCA CEO Christina Bisanz said it was “certainly encouraging” that long-term care is a priority for Matthews, and the continuing focus on quality improvement “aligns with our priority around the Residents’ First initiative and quality.”

Bisanz noted that the sector will continue working with the ministry on challenges such as the OA envelope funding, and share some of its forward-looking initiatives, such as an OLTCA-led innovation strategy stemming from a recent Conference Board of Canada report.

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