The fastest way to get into an Ontario LTC is by going a hospital first. That's a problem, say advocates
CBC
The fastest way to get into a long-term care home in Ontario is by going to the hospital first, advocates say.
The situation is particularly acute in Toronto, where the combination of an increasing and aging population and the loss of nearly 700 beds due to nursing home closures has meant that many nursing homes are taking in new residents exclusively from hospitals.
That has led one of two major long-term care associations in Ontario to take the unusual step of calling out the province to boost funding to other sectors ahead of the spring budget.
Ontario needs a new approach to deal with an aging population, said Lisa Levin, CEO of AdvantAge Ontario, which represents the vast majority of municipal and non-profit nursing homes in Ontario.
"We can't have people only get into long-term care if they're in crisis," Levin said. "We can't keep having people go to hospitals because they can't get into long-term care any other way. We need to have more options."
She points to data collected by the Canadian Institute of Health Information that shows more than 50 per cent of long-term care admissions are people coming from a hospital, a 67 per cent jump from pre-pandemic levels.
AdvantAge is calling on the province to dramatically expand supports for seniors, including capital funding to greatly expand seniors' supportive housing, plus a further $600 million to go into home care.
"A lot of people just need a little bit extra care and support to be able to continue living independently in the community," she said.
Levin said seniors' supportive housing would be similar to retirement homes, which can be expensive and not a realistic option for many, but with rent geared to income.
The organization, which represents hundreds of long-term care homes across Ontario, also wants to see more money spent on those homes as the makeup of their population has shifted in recent years. Two in five long-term care residents now live with a psychiatric or mood disorder, Levin said.
"We need to get more resources in long-term care so that we can work with these individuals and provide them the proper care and assistance, and we also need more options in the community so that they don't have to go into long-term care in the first place," Levin said.
Levin hears stories daily from families across the province about the struggle to get a loved one into a long-term care home.
"It's almost impossible to get in from the community," she said.
The situation is acute at one nursing home in downtown Toronto, where about 90 per cent of residents come directly from a hospital.
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