New Investment Will Also Expand Support For Clinical Education Programs In Long-Term Care Homes
A News Release from the Ontario Government
Posted May 14th, 2021 on Niagara At Large
Ontario Long-Term Care Minster Dr. Merrilee Fullteron insists she inherited a mess on long-term care from previous governments – so, as she continues insist, cut her some slack. It takes years to take action.
TORONTO — The Ontario government is investing $35 million to increase enrollment in nursing education programs in publicly-assisted colleges and universities across the province.
The new spaces will be available for Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 cohorts and will introduce approximately 1,130 new practical nurses and 870 registered nurses into the health care system.
COVID-19 has exacerbated the gap between the current supply of nurses compared to Ontario’s current and future needs across the health care system.
Today’s (May 14th, 2021) announcement is a significant step towards keeping pace with the rising demand for frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, especially in sectors where health care workers care for Ontario’s most vulnerable patients such as long-term care, home and community care and acute care.
“Our Government committed to ensuring residents in long-term care receive, on average, four hours of direct care per day. To make this a reality, tens of thousands of new staff need to be hired to provide this care — including registered nurses and practical nurses.” said Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care.
“Today’s investment supports our plan to shore up staffing in long-term care and address the need for nurses across the health care system.”
In addition to expanding enrollment to support the increase in nursing supply for all sectors of our health system, including home and community care and acute care, this investment will also support the expansion of clinical education placements for nursing students and personal support worker students in the long-term care sector.
Clinical education placements will be supported in the following ways:
- Increasing training for clinical experts who oversee students in long-term care placements; and
- Providing additional funding to ensure dedicated supervision time from clinical experts to support student learning in long-term care.
“Ontarians rely on the exceptional quality of care that health care professionals provide in hospitals and long-term care homes,” said Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities.
“Colleges and universities are crucial partners in our goal to provide high-quality care for long-term care residents and all Ontarians. Today’s announcement is progress to ensuring that Ontario’s healthcare system has the highly-qualified staff needed to provide world-class care for Ontarians and our loved ones.”
This investment will help long-term care homes ensure quality clinical placements in long-term care at a time when homes are facing severe staffing challenges. It will also provide registered nurses already in the long-term-care sector an opportunity to grow their careers by working as clinical experts and supervising new students.
“Nurses are a cornerstone of our health care system and are integral to Ontario’s fight against COVID-19,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “This investment will support and strengthen our nursing workforce and ensure patients can continue to receive high-quality care across our health system, including long-term care, home and community care and acute care.”
This investment also supports the government’s Long-Term Care Staffing Plan, which was launched last year and sets out actions that will educate, train and help recruit tens of thousands of new health care staff through partnerships with labour partners, long-term care homes, and education and training providers, so that homes can provide an average of four hours of direct care per day to residents.
A Footnote on Niagara At Large from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party –
PRESS RELEASE, May 14, 2021
Merrilee Fullerton needs to answer when she learned seniors were dying of neglect
QUEEN’S PARK — Minister Merrilee Fullerton, who will hold a media event Friday morning after hiding for a week, needs to explain when she first learned that seniors were being neglected to death, dying in long-term care homes in Ontario because they weren’t given food or water.
“When did the Minister learn that seniors died of dehydration and neglect in the long-term care homes she’s responsible for?” asked NDP Long-Term Care critic Sara Singh. “If Dr. Fullerton knew, why didn’t she take action to save people? If she didn’t know until April 30, when the Long Term Care Commission Report was released, what does that say about her neglect of her job, as minister?”
The Long-Term Care Commission found, through military reports filed last summer, “Twenty-six residents died due to dehydration prior to the arrival of the CAF team due to the lack of staff to care for them. They died when all they [needed] was ‘water and a wipe down.” Fullerton has repeatedly avoided answering questions about when she first learned about these deaths.
The NDP has referred that report to the Ontario Provincial Police.
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