THUNDER BAY — The provincial government has announced over $1.4 million in funding for improvements at local long-term care homes, dollars intended to better serve patients with complex needs and reduce strain on the hospital system.
Thunder Bay–Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland detailed the investment in six local projects at an event at the Hogarth Riverview Manor long-term care home on Thursday.
The government says the investments will help reduce hospital visits for long-term care residents by increasing access to specialized care in long-term care homes.
The additional equipment and staffing will also help homes accept “alternative level of care” (ALC) patients from hospitals, people who no longer require acute care but have complex needs homes sometimes cannot meet.
“It’s really going to enhance the level of care they’re able to provide to their residents,” Holland said in an interview.
“It’s going to prevent residents having to go to the emergency room [and] the hospital for these types of services. They’ll now be able to get that care in their own home, and that’s going to be key for their quality of life.”
St. Joseph’s Care Group is the major beneficiary of the funding, receiving over $1.3 million that will be spent across several of its facilities.
That includes $625,000 to hire nurses, social workers, and behavioural, occupational, and recreational therapists; $487,000 for specialized staff training on dementia and bariatric care at Hogarth Riverview Manor; $196,000 for bariatric care equipment at Hogarth; and $28,000 to support residents with bariatric care and other complex needs like dialysis at the Bethammi nursing home.
Southbridge Pinewood, meanwhile, will receive around $87,000 to purchase bariatric care equipment, and the city-run Pioneer Ridge was awarded $17,000 for the same purpose.
Bariatric care refers to treatment and supports for residents living with obesity and weight-related complications.
The dollars come through the province’s new Local Priorities Fund, which will allocate $20 million this year to 189 projects across the province meant to boost access to specialized services for LTC residents with complex needs.
Holland said the fact Thunder Bay received $1.4 million of that shows the Ford government is moving beyond per capita formulas to acknowledge the region’s unique needs.
“[That’s] a good chunk that’s coming to Thunder Bay,” he said. “Our government is recognizing … that circumstances in parts of the province like Thunder Bay, the cost of delivering services could be higher.”
While the Local Priorities Fund is not expected to support LTC homes elsewhere across the Northwest this year, Holland said the investments in Thunder Bay will benefit the region more broadly because the city serves as a regional hub for more complex care.
Jonathon Riabov, an administrator for Hogarth Riverview Manor, said the funding will have a major impact on patient care and efficient use of staff time.
The St. Joseph’s Care Group is using the dollars to purchase items like 200 lipped-wing mattresses that help prevent residents from rolling off of beds, and bariatric beds with more advanced features and technology, and permanent ceiling lifts that will replace portable units that eat up more staff time.
The investment helps St. Jo’s essentially meet its bariatric care needs, said Riabov.
Sheila Hansen, director of nursing at Pioneer Ridge, said the funds helped purchase expensive specialized equipment.
“We’ve been able to purchase some bariatric air mattresses, which are really important, and a number of other bariatric equipment like commodes or a shower chair,” she said.
The home had only a few bariatric beds before receiving the funding, some of which had come to end of life.
She said the funding, along with the Ford government’s investments meant to achieve a four-hour a day standard of care, are making a meaningful difference, but homes continue to face major challenges.
“There are all kinds of needs — we have a dementia care floor, we have a staffing crisis like every home in the city,” she said. “So funding is always welcomed and we always need it — and so does every home.”
She said Pioneer Ridge is close to achieving the four-hour care standard.
In a release, the provincial government said it’s “fixing long-term care to ensure Ontario’s seniors get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve.”
Holland acknowledged there’s more to be done.
“We inherited a problem — and this isn’t about laying blame, we’re the government that’s in power, we’re the government that has to deal with the circumstances,” he said.
“COVID obviously highlighted some of the shortfalls in long-term care, but our government has made substantial investments to address the needs and to get on top of that problem.”
