Home Care Ontario Calls On The Province To Significantly Increase Number Of Visits And Hours Of Home Care

by Bob Montgomery

The CEO of Home Care Ontario says there are currently 45-thousand people in Ontario waiting for a bed in a long term care home.

But Sue VanderBent says most of them will never get there because the waiting list is too long. She says Ontario needs a new approach and Home Care is the solution. Right now they have immediate capacity and the staff in place and they're calling on the government to boost the number of Home Care visits so the sector can provide 16.5 million hours of home care to Ontarians. VanderBent says that will help more Ontarians and seniors to age in place and reduce hospital wait times.

VanderBent says Home Care has a wide range of specialized staff that includes personal support workers, nurses, OTs, PTs, social workers, dietitians, speech pathologists and many more. She says they have about 60-thousand staff members and they look after about 800-thousand people a year, and that number will continue to grow as more people live longer and require more care.

VanderBent says they have now launched a campaign to get the government to provide the funding for more at-home visits that will allow people to remain in their homes for as long as possible and reduce waiting times in the hospital. More information about Home Care Ontario can be found on their website.