December 7th, 2021

Ford’s latest bad choice shows he’s not serious about hiring long-term care staff

HAMILTON — NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the fact that student personal support workers (PSW) say they’ve been misled and are dropping out is another troubling sign Premier Doug Ford isn’t going to increase staff in long-term care. According to an Ottawa Citizenreport a government-funded private career college PSW program was touted as including a paid work placement and free supplies — but cost students so much, many can’t afford to continue.

“Long-term care homes are desperately understaffed,” said Horwath. “PSWs are run off their feet, and still often unable to deliver decent, dignified care. The result is horrifying neglect — bedsores, dehydration, festering infections and terrible loneliness.

“Quebec hired 10,000 PSWs last summer alone by delivering good training, paid work placements, decent pay and full-time jobs. Instead of doing that, Ford announced that Ontario won’t staff up for literally years, and gave the recruitment and retention funding to private career colleges. The fact that PSW-hopefuls say the training is putting them into debt, and they feel they were misled about the program, is a chilling confirmation that Doug Ford isn’t going to fix the low staffing levels in nursing homes. Our parents and grandparents are going to continue to suffer.”

NDP MPP Joel Harden (Ottawa Centre) has spoken with some of the students. They believed their course would include paid work placement and free tuition, books and supplies. Instead, some say they’re going into debt to pay their tuition, are required to do 310 hours of unpaid work and may have agreed to be billed $55 an hour if they miss a day of that unpaid work.

“Staffing up in long-term care is possible, it’s critical, and we need to do it right now,” said Horwath, whose party has been fighting for years, first with the Liberals and now the PCs, for a guaranteed staffing ratio to allow every resident a minimum of four hours of personal care per day. “Free or low-cost education, paid on-the-job training, good wages and full-time jobs is how we’re going to recruit and retain the thousands of long-term care workers we need right now. The investment will literally make thousands of Ontario lives better — the lives of PSWs, and the lives of the people living in nursing homes.”

The NDP has committed to an immediate $5 per hour raise for all PSWs, and to convert all long-term care facilities to public and not-for-profit homes.