Ontario Expanding Home and Community Care Services

TORONTO — Ontario is making major investments to expand home and community care to help end hallway health care and build more capacity in communities across the province.

Today, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, was at Hillcrest Reactivation Centre to announce that the government is investing an additional $155 million this year to expand home and community care services.

“Home and community care play a critical role in ending hallway health care,” said Elliott. “By making these significant investments and supporting partnerships between home and community care providers and busy hospitals, patients will experience quicker transitions between receiving hospital care and returning home with the appropriate support they need to properly recover, while also making sure hospital beds are available for those who need them.”

As a part of this investment, the government is providing $45 million for targeted innovative integrated care models in high-need areas.

“Certain areas in Ontario are experiencing higher-than-average rates of patients receiving care in unconventional spaces,” added Elliott. “By investing in targeted partnerships between hospitals and home and community care providers in these regions, we can tackle the challenge of hallway health care head on to ensure patients are receiving the high-quality care they expect and deserve.”

By investing in more frontline patient care, the province can provide:

• 1.8 million more hours of personal support services
• 490,000 more nursing visits and 100,000 more therapy visits
• Services in the community like homemaking, meals, transportation and caregiver supports
• Additional direct community services for patients with acquired brain injury and people living in supportive housing.

“Home Care Ontario applauds today’s announcement of new funding for home and community care,” said Sue VanderBent, CEO of Home Care Ontario. “This new money will help deliver more care at home, which is the quickest and most cost-effective way to end hospital overcrowding. It will help people avoid hospital admissions altogether as well as help people get home from hospital even faster. We commend the government for continuing to make home care a key priority.”

“These are important investments for patients in home and community care,” said Jo-Anne Poirier, President and CEO of VON Canada. “The government’s approach of funding proven, innovative practices will accelerate the system’s ability to provide patients the right services, at the right time and in the right place. This critical focus will further support patients in receiving much-needed care with the added comfort and peace of mind of remaining in their own homes and communities.”