Patient care at risk - Home care sector Issues Warning over Growing System Pressures

-New campaign calls for $1.25 billion over next three years to prepare for increased patient demands

HAMILTON, ON, Jan. 16, 2024 /CNW/ - Home Care Ontario is warning policy makers that urgent additional investments are needed in the home care sector to prepare the health system for growing patient demands over the next five years.

A new campaign launched today entitled "More Home Care," highlights that the start of the demographic tsunami is here. Ontario's seniors' population is set to increase by 15 per cent in just the next five years which will place staggering demands on our already strained health system. The campaign makes it clear the province must act now to ensure the health system does not crumble under the added pressure, and that home care is the answer to addressing this looming issue.

"The growing headlines about Emergency Department closures, and loved ones unable to receive the care they need must serve as a wake-up call," says Sue VanderBent, CEO of Home Care Ontario. "We're launching the 'More Home Care' campaign because Ontario must act now before the health care system begins to crumble under the additional patient demand we will face in the next five years.  The simple answer is more home care, which can be scaled faster and more cost efficiently than any other part of the system."

Specifically, Home Care Ontario is calling on government to invest an additional $411 million annually for the next three years to improve patient-centered care and support its home care workforce. This investment will be directed toward:

• Further improving front line compensation;
• Providing ongoing specialized training and mentorship to help retain existing home care staff; and,
• Modernizing the sector's digital infrastructure to help create an electronic patient record that can been seen and updated by home care staff in real time.

The new campaign is anchored by an informative website, www.morehomecare.ca that is calling on Ontarians to tell the government to invest in "More Care Home."

"We must act fast to help our health care system and our patients and nothing is faster than home care," concluded VanderBent. "The government's historic $1 Billion home care investment has helped the sector following the pandemic, but we cannot stop there. Continued investment is needed to massively expand the home care system. That's what patients want ? to receive care at home - and what the More Home Care campaign is all about."

About Home Care Ontario: Home Care Ontario is a member-based organization representing the full spectrum of home care providers in the province, including publicly-funded, not-for-profit and family-funded organizations. Our members are united by a singular mission to provide outstanding nursing care, home support services, personal care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, infusion pharmacy, social work, dietetics, speech language therapy and medical equipment and supplies to people in the comfort of their homes.

SOURCE Home Care Ontario