(January 29, 2020)<\/p>\n
By: Sudbury Star Staff, Sudbury Star<\/p>\n
The Ontario Health Coalition says the province needs more personal support workers and will be making its case through a series of meetings, including one in Sudbury next month.<\/p>\n
The public meetings, which begin Wednesday in Oshawa, will talk about the coalition’s new report, Caring in Crisis: Ontario’s Long-Term Care PSW Shortage.<\/p>\n
“The issue of personal support worker (PSW) shortages is one that has serious local repercussions,” the coalition said in a release. “PSWs are on the front lines, providing much of the daily hands-on care for approximately 80,000 long-term care residents in Ontario.<\/p>\n
“It is no overstatement to call the situation a crisis. Long-term care homes reported that they are working with shortages on almost all shifts, every day. Weekends are worse. Rural areas are even harder hit.<\/p>\n
“The shortages mean that there are not enough PSWs to staff existing beds let alone the planned new beds that are urgently needed to address the long waitlists in each community on the tour.”<\/p>\n
Caring in Crisis, written by the Ontario Health Coalition and commissioned by Unifor, examines the PSW crisis in Ontario’s long-term care homes. The report is based on the input and feedback from round-table meetings held across Ontario attended by home operators and administrators, PSWs, union representatives, family councils, seniors, college staff who develop\/coordinate PSW courses, local health coalitions and other long-term care advocates.<\/p>\n
The meetings will include firsthand accounts of how the crisis is impacting each local community and their long-term care homes, and recommendations to restore stability to the vital long-term care workforce.<\/p>\n
The meeting in Sudbury is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, at Sudbury Indie Cinema Co-op, 162 MacKenzie St.<\/p>\n
Meetings are also planned for St. Catharines, Sault Ste. Marie (Feb. 3), London, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Thunder Bay (Feb. 10), Kingston, Sarnia, Windsor and Brampton.<\/p>\n