TORONTO – The provincial government has eased some restrictions on admissions and staff at long-term care homes, in a bid to address staff shortages and move more patients out of hospitals.
The government has amended a regulation prohibiting long-term care and retirement home staff from working in more than one home, or in another health care setting, making fully-immunized staff exempt from the rule.
The province is also looking to encourage more “alternate level of care” patients – those in hospital who are not considered to require intensive care – who are waiting for LTC spots to accept placements in homes that aren’t their first choice.
Those ALC patients will maintain priority status on the waitlist for their preferred home, the government said in a Saturday release. They will also have co-payments waived until they can be transferred to a home of their choice.
The steps come as the government looks to confront record-breaking ICU numbers, with over 800 COVID-19 patients receiving intensive case as of Friday.
"The third wave of COVID-19 is putting unprecedented pressure on Ontario's hospitals, requiring immediate action," said Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton. "My ministry is working with our partners at the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health to help create more critical care capacity in hospitals.”
The government will also ease rules for admission of residents to long-term care homes.
Fully immunized residents with a negative laboratory-based test at the time of admission or transfer will no longer be required to isolate on arrival.
Partially immunized or unimmunized residents, who also require a laboratory-based test is at the time of admission or transfer, must now isolate for a minimum of 10 days, reduced from 14, subject to a negative laboratory test taken on Day 8.
Lastly, the province gave Ontario Health and Home and Community Care Support Services (HCCSS) the authority to redeploy their staff to long-term care homes and retirement homes to facilitate and support placements.