Instead of more cuts, Ontario needs a multi-faceted approach to the crisis in care, aging and population growth that will increase capacity in LTC, home care, and hospital care. Hospitals need to be funded at their real costs, 5.2% annually, otherwise we lose capacity in a system already an outlier in terms of fewest beds and staff to population. We need to open hospital beds to meet the challenge of an aging population. We need, at the very least to increase our bed numbers to meet the average of other provinces – i.e. another 8,400 beds. Home care and Long-term Care funding needs to be increased to recognize the acuity of the patient population, as thousands of patients with complex medical conditions have already been deposited there from the hospital system. We need legislation guaranteeing a minimum average of 4 hours of direct nursing and personal care per resident per day in long-term care. We need to increase home care capacity and we need over thirty thousand public Care beds just to offset aging. This will not offset growing need for hospital or home care services. It will not even make up for the loss in LTC capacity over the last 14 years. Mental Health and addictions has long been neglected and need a substantial investment to meet current Restructuring of hospitals has proven to be hugely expensive and is unaffordable and ineffective. Privatization of infrastructure and services has proven to be inefficient and unaffordable.
Instead of more cuts, Ontario needs a multi-faceted approach to the crisis in care, aging and population growth that will increase capacity in LTC, home care, and hospital care. Hospitals need to be funded at their real costs, 5.2% annually, otherwise we lose capacity in a system already an outlier in terms of fewest beds and staff to population. We need to open hospital beds to meet the challenge of an aging population. We need, at the very least to increase our bed numbers to meet the average of other provinces – i.e. another 8,400 beds. Home care and Long-term Care funding needs to be increased to recognize the acuity of the patient population, as thousands of patients with complex medical conditions have already been deposited there from the hospital system. We need legislation guaranteeing a minimum average of 4 hours of direct nursing and personal care per resident per day in long-term care. We need to increase home care capacity and we need over thirty thousand public Care beds just to offset aging. This will not offset growing need for hospital or home care services. It will not even make up for the loss in LTC capacity over the last 14 years. Mental Health and addictions has long been neglected and need a substantial investment to meet current Restructuring of hospitals has proven to be hugely expensive and is unaffordable and ineffective. Privatization of infrastructure and services has proven to be inefficient and unaffordable.
brief_hospital_funding_durham_hallway_medicine_2018_07.docx