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$8M to Increase Senior Home Care
By John Miner, London Free Press
Ontario, Canada
July 20, 2005
The Ontario government is pumping more than $8 million into the London area to allow more seniors to receive care in their own homes as part of a plan to ease pressure on hospitals.
The money, announced yesterday by Health Minister George Smitherman, will total $112.7 million across the province, with $87.8 million channelled through Community Care Access Centres.
"We are very pleased," said Sandra Coleman, executive director of the London-Middlesex Community Care Access Centre, which is receiving $3.1 million under the program.
"If we can shift some care out of the hospitals and have the length of stay reduced by a day, it is better for clients and takes the pressure off hospitals a bit," she said.
Coleman said the London and Middlesex centre needs more details before it can calculate how many more people it will be able to serve with the money.
Last year, the Ontario government provided a similar amount and the centre was able to serve an additional 2,051 clients, she said.
Under the program, patients who qualified for the program could receive nursing care in their homes, therapy, equipment and supplies.
The Health Ministry calculates that across Ontario an additional 45,100 acute-care patients will be able to be cared for in their homes.
Part of the money, $24.9 million, is designated for community support services that will help more than 9,000 additional clients who would likely have required institutional care.
Smitherman said often the best kind of health care is delivered in the community.
By helping seniors and others receive greater care in their home and communities, the government can relieve stress on hospitals and long-term facilities, where treatment is more expensive, he said.
"With the resources that we're advancing today, a lot of very high-need and high-risk clients are going to have care that they weren't receiving before," Smitherman said at a north Toronto community support agency. "In areas like this, there's always more that can be done."
The shift to a community-care focus has already resulted in financial efficiencies, Smitherman said. He noted the province was able to halve increases to hospital budgets this year -- down to a five per cent increase from 10 per cent in previous years.
NEW AREA FUNDING
Elgin County: $723,000
Huron County: $614,000
London-Middlesex: $3.1 million
Oxford County: $947,000
Perth County: $670,000
Chatham-Kent: $1 million
Sarnia-Lambton: $1.1 million
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