Long-term beds needed: Caplan

Author: Frank Matys

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Frank Matys

Health Minister David Caplan spoke at a ceremony concluding the 100th anniversary of Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital. Jeana Johnson, a four-year-old oncology patient, presented Caplan with a Dave Beckett print depicting the original hospital.

The province is working to address the challenges that have left hospitals like Orillia’s saddled with massive deficits, Health Minister David Caplan said.
“We do know that there are growing needs, we know that there is an aging population and we do want to reward the excellence that we do see in place and build upon the strengths that are there,” he said during a recent visit to Orillia.
Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital is projecting a $6.9 million operating deficit this year.
The shortfall was initially estimated at $10.6 million, though officials are hoping to trim the deficit by $3.6 million by lowering costs and exploring potential revenue generators.
Part of the problem stems from a lack of long-term care beds in the community.
The shortage is forcing patients who should be in nursing homes to occupy sorely needed hospital beds, in turn putting added pressure on an already bustling emergency department.
Caplan said he was aware of the conundrum, and that the province was investing in programs that provide care to aging residents outside the hospital setting.
“We want to get them faster, better services,” he added. “It is all hands on deck.”
A multi-pronged approach is necessary to address the challenges facing hospitals, he said, citing as an example the use of personal supporter workers at Soldiers’ to assist patients with complex needs.
The province is additionally “looking to expand the scope of practice for a whole range of professionals, like pharmacists, like physiotherapists, like nurse practitioners, so they could … provide better care in different settings – in the hospital, in the long-term care homes, and in the community.”
He rejected the notion that personal support workers were introduced to cut costs at the expense of nurses.
“We still need nurses and we are looking to hire them, we still need physicians and we are training more of them, but we need those other professionals as well,” he said.
Hospitals are given a “three year glimpse into the future of the kind of dollars we are going to be able to provide for them.”
Base funding to hospitals rose 2.1 per cent this year, though the total increase was closer to five per cent when other funding programs were included, he said.
“Things like the pay-for-performance program for emergency rooms is just one example of additional funding that is targetted to lower wait times for surgeries, for diagnostics and now in emergency departments,” he added.
In the same breath, Caplan said “the ability to be able to meet all the pressures, perhaps that we have in the past, is simply not there for us.