Long Term Care facilities in Hastings County are running below the provincial personal care staffing requirements and the move is on to change that.
The provincial government is calling for four hours of care per resident per day.
Both Hastings Manor and Centennial Manor sit below three hours; Hastings Manor at 2.67 hours, Centennial Manor at 2.7.
Chair of the Long Term Care Committee, Bancroft Mayor Paul Jenkins, tells Quinte News the needs of the homes have evolved over the years.
Jenkins says, “The homes are operating, as many are in the province, below the guideline of four hours of personal care per day.”
Director of Long Term Care Debbie Rollins says there are three Personal Service Workers per 32 residents.
Rollins told Quinte News, “Hastings Manor needs around 369,000 more hours to get there. There are two different streams of direct and indirect care that the ministry will use in that formula so I’m showing both. Indirect care would be your directors of nursing, your dietitian, your coordinators. So they do nursing but not hands on care. Then you have your hands on care with your activation staff, your PSWs (Personal Service Worker), RPNs (Registered Practical) and RNs (Registered Nurses).”
Rollins indicated she will be setting it out in two forms so they “will have a choice to see which route they want to go. But money talks. Money will determine how quickly we move forward with that … it’s a substantial amount of hours for any home across the province.”
Both Jenkins and Rollins agreed extra Personal Service Workers would require more money in the budget.
Rollins is preparing a report outlining a detailed strategy to reach the four hours of care per resident per day.
Both Rollins and Jenkins say more information on how much money will be required for extra staffing is coming shortly.
Council also had the LTC committee’s report indicating that, at the next provincial call for applications, Rollins will apply for licensing two additional beds that exist at Hastings Manor. The process takes about four to six months from time of application.
