Province to fund 40 new LTC positions

Chatham-Kent is set to begin the recruitment for 40 new long-term care positions, thanks to provincial funding.

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Chatham-Kent is set to begin recruiting for 40 new long-term care positions, thanks to provincial funding.

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A staff report came before council Monday noting the fully funded jobs will provide front-line care for positions such as personal support workers, registered practical nurses and registered nurses.

Also approved was a temporary two-year contract for a recruitment and retention co-ordinator at Riverview Gardens, to be funded from seniors services operational reserves.

“Lots of people are retiring, lots of people are switching jobs,” said April Rietdyk, general manager of community human services. “We do feel that we need to come together to really focus on a strategy that will bring people to Chatham-Kent who want to work in health care.”

Homes are required to provide three hours of care per resident per day by March of next year, followed by four hours of care per resident per day by 2025.

“This requirement is being built into the legislation, and has come about as a result of the spotlight shone on long-term care throughout the pandemic,” the report stated.

Riverview Gardens currently provides 2.75 hours of care per resident per day. The funding for 2022-23 will pay for the 40 new employees, with a 29 full-time equivalency.

The following year, the number will almost double to an additional 80 new employees, which is the reason behind the proposal for a recruitment and retention co-ordinator.

“(They) will focus on attracting talent to Riverview Gardens in a sector that has a shortage of health-care workers nationwide through targeted campaigns, job fairs and the use of social media,” the report stated.

The position will also be responsible for conducting job interviews, helping integrate new employees into the care home environment and following up with new hires to “support retention.”

The provincial funding can only be used for direct care, not for administrative support, supervision, recruitment activities or resource costs such as software licensing.

Administration will be bringing the software resource costs and a request for an additional manager to the upcoming budget.

“Every long-term care home has a lot of work ahead of them to get to this (level of care),” Rietdyk said.