Ontario just shy of meeting target of four hours direct care for LTC residents
Global News
While the government met its interim targets in the following two years, starting at three hours of direct care, it did not reach the third-year or final targets.
Ontario failed to meet its legislated target for getting long-term care residents an average of four hours a day of direct care by March of this year, the government concedes, though it came quite close.
The Progressive Conservative government set the target aimed at boosting both the amount of direct care residents receive from nurses and personal support workers, as well as other health professionals such as physiotherapists, in a 2021 law.
While the government met its interim targets in the following two years, starting at three hours of direct care, it did not reach the third-year or final targets, amid staffing challenges.
In the last year, the average direct hours of nursing and PSW care in long-term care homes across the province was three hours and 49 minutes, or 95.5 per cent of that four-hour target, according to a report recently published by the Ministry of Long-Term Care, led by Minister Natalia Kusendova-Bashta.
The province will continue trying to increase the amount of direct care residents receive, the government wrote in its report.
“This includes addressing the challenges that affect the government’s ability to recruit and retain qualified care staff at a pace that keeps up with the need of the province’s aging population,” the report said.
“These challenges are further compounded by the construction of a record number of new and upgraded long-term care beds, an important government priority that will require even more staff to meet demand.”
Ontario is aiming to get 30,000 net new long-term care beds built by 2028.
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