The CEO of Home Care Ontario says Health Care in Ontario is not Ready for the Increase in the Seniors Population that is Coming

by Bob Montgomery

The CEO of Home Care Ontario says the senior population in Ontario is expected to grow significantly in the next few years and she says health care in Ontario is not ready for that increase. 

Sue Vanderbent says their research estimates the senior population in Ontario will increase by 27% in the next five years and that translates into a need for about 6,800 more personal support workers, as well as more nurses, therapists and the rest of the staff that provide care.

Vanderbent says the message they’re trying to send to the provincial government ahead of the budget is that the home care sector is going to need $411M each year for the next three years to meet that demand and attract and maintain their staff. She says the money would be used to train new people as well as purchase new digital tools to improve the communication between primary care specialists in hospitals and home care.

Vanderbent says it would take 40,000 new beds in long term homes to meet the demand but home care can scale up faster than any other part of the healthcare system because they're not constructing a building, they just have people. She says the increase in the senior population is definitely going to point to more care at home and she says their surveys show 96% of the people questioned say they would rather be cared for in their own home. Vanderbent says if there was more government support for home care and if the wages came closer to matching the wages paid to PSW’s in long term care homes, they would be able to attract the people they will need.