Ford government announced funding to train 373 new long-term care PSWs This number of PSWs would not be enough to improve care in one middle-sized town, let alone across nine regions encompassing half the population of the province, reported the Ontario Health Coalition In context, the Ontario Health Coalition has calculated that in order to get to a safe level of care -- a minimum of 4-hours of care per resident per day -- Ontario needs approximately 20,838 full-time equivalent staff (FTEs) including PSWs, RPNs and RNs for existing LTC beds. If the 15,000 new LTC beds are created as has been promised, Ontario would need an additional 12,823 PSWs, RPNs and RNs on top of the 20,838 FTEs for a total of 33,661 full-time equivalent staff. This translates to 44,880 full and part-time staff. “There is a humanitarian crisis in Ontario’s long-term care homes. Residents are going without proper feeding and hydration, baths, foot care, repositioning, rehabilitation – the very basics of care – let alone not having their psychological, social, and cultural needs met,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director. “We have never, in all of our years advocating in long-term care, seen such a widespread and profound staffing and care crisis. In context, this announcement is so inadequate as to be unconscionable.”
said the union has been asking the province to offer free college courses for the workers to help protect vulnerable residents during the pandemic.
Two Ontario colleges have partnered with a home-care services company to offer free courses that certify personal support workers in a bid to address a shortage of the employees during the pandemic.
"We have a shortage of workers," said Michael Bournon, the company's director of operations. "Traditionally, there has been a shortage of workers, the pandemic has exasperated that."