While the provincial government is reaffirming its commitment to recruit and retain more heath care professionals in long-term care, the union representing Ontario’s nurses says it’s not enough.
The Ontario government said on Wednesday that it will be investing $57.6 million over the next three years to recruit and retain up to 225 additional nurse practitioners in the long-term care sector through the new Hiring More Nurse Practitioners for Long-Term Care program.
As part of the program, which was initially announced in the Fall Economic Statement in 2021, long-term care homes can request funding for eligible employment expenses for newly hired nurse practitioners, such as salary, benefits, and overhead costs. The program will also provide funding to support the relocation of nurses who are hired to work full-time in rural communities.
While noting that it is a start, the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) said the program’s three-year timeline would need to be accelerated to meet the needs of Ontario’s 627 long-term care homes. The ONA added that the number of nurses being hired is also too low.
“ONA has long urged this government to fund more full-time nurse practitioners for long-term care, to bring their exceptional skills, education and knowledge and enable them to provide care to residents who are medically complex,” said ONA President Cathryn Hoy in a news release.
The ONA has recommended to the province that there should be at least one nurse practitioner for every 120 residents in long-term care.
The ONA also argued that the government’s commitment to strengthening long-term care in Ontario is at odds with Bill 7, the government’s legislation to transfer alternate-level-of-care patients out of hospitals and into long-term care homes.
“There are better solutions to address the health-care crisis than coercing patients into a long-term care home that may be far from their community and support networks,” said Hoy. “Every solution begins with a comprehensive plan to fix the serious nursing shortage, not more stop-gap measures. Without nurses, no sector of health care can properly function.”
