Government commits millions for more nurses and PSWs
Wednesday March 26, 2008 -- Jason Thompson
In alignment with an Ontario Long-Term Care Association (OLTCA) campaign asking the government to address the sector’s staffing concerns in its 2008-09 budget, the province has promised to hire 2,000 more nurses and 2,500 extra personal support workers over the next three years.

For starters, the government has budgeted more than $500 million to hire 9,000 nurses across the province including 2,000 in long-term care. They have also committed about $107 million over three years to hire 2,500 personal support workers as well as $278 million over the same time period towards programming needs in the sector.

The budget also includes a one-year $90-million extension of the Nursing Graduate Guarantee. Announced in 2007, the guarantee ensures full-time work opportunities for all Ontario nursing graduates that year.

Details on how the funds will be broken down should be available within a couple of weeks.

In anticipation of the budget release, the OLTCA turned to its members to raise public and political awareness of challenges facing the long-term care sector. Entitled “Long-Term Care Needs More Than a Band-Aid,” the campaign is an annual effort by the association and its membership.

After collecting signed postcards at individual member homes, they were personally delivered to Members of Provincial Parliament with the hope of discussing the sector’s needs with their Queen’s Park representative.

Provincial Finance Minister Dwight Duncan delivered the budget March 25 with a focus on skills training, infrastructure, assistance for low-income families and seniors and tax relief for Ontario’s ailing manufacturing sector.

How does the provincial budget impact your home? To share your thoughts, phone (800) 294-0051, ext. 25 or e-mail jason(at)axiomnews.ca.

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Membership homes work diligently to get postcards signed