Long-term care homes in Brantford and Brant County are getting $7.5 million in provincial funding to increase staffing levels, leading to more direct care for residents.
The money is part of the Ontario government’s plan to provide up to $673 million over the next two years to ensure long-term care residents get, on average, four hours of direct care per day by 2024-25, said Will Bouma, MPP for Brantford-Brant.
Here’s how the local funding will be shared:
- Up to $1.78 million for St. Joseph’s Lifecare Center in Brantford.
- Up to $1.36 million for John Noble Home in Brantford.
- Up to $1.15 million for Park Lane Terrace Nursing Home in Paris.
- Up to $1.06 million for Fox Ridge Care Community in Brantford.
- Up to $776,000 for Hardy Terrace in Mount Pleasant.
- Up to $688,000 for Brierwood Gardens in Brantford.
- Up to $436,000 for Iroquois Lodge Nursing Home in Ohsweken.
- Up to $305,000 for Telfer Place in Paris.
“This funding will allow homes in our community to hire and retain more staff so they can provide more care to residents, every day,” said Bouma in a news release. “This is part of our government’s plan to hire thousands of new staff over the next four years to ensure those living in long-term care get the high-quality care they need and deserve.”
Seniors entering long-term care today are older and have more complex medical needs than they did a decade ago. The level of care residents need has increased dramatically, said Bouma, but the amount of care they receive has not.
“In the nine years between 2009 and 2018, the amount of care each resident received, by all providers, per day, increased by only 22 minutes. Our government, over the span of four years, will increase direct hours of care by one hour and 21 minutes.”
The provincial government says it’s investing $4.9 billion over four years to boost direct care to an average of four hours daily by increasing care staff by more than 27,000 people.