The Champlain Community Care Access Centre continues to cut services instead of finding efficiencies – this despite being placed under interim management by The Ottawa Hospital in December.
OPSEU Local 4101 at CAREFOR Health and Community Services was provided with notice of temporary layoff for two social workers January 19. The CCAC has capped the number of social work visits for this service provider for the rest of the 2009/10 budget year to less than 80 visits. Each social worker conducts about three visits per day.
These cuts, and the potential for more in the near future, threaten access to care at the community level within the City of Ottawa. The CCAC does not directly provide regulated health professional therapies within the City. These services are provided through contracts with other health service providers including CAREFOR. The rural communities are serviced by CCAC therapists.
The Champlain CCAC serves 25,000 residents per day, 55,000 clients per year. It is the second largest health care provider in the Local Health Integration Network after The Ottawa Hospital.
Since amalgamation in 2007, the Champlain CCAC has had three executive directors and three board chairs.
In September a LHIN-sponsored KPMG report on the CCAC was released, detailing how badly the organization was run.
KPMG highlighted frustration of the LHIN’s hospitals with the CCAC. They include insufficient case managers to handle their volumes and a lack of skilled service provider staff at the agency level. “Many are unsure that the agency staff in the community are knowledgeable about the complexity of some patients and the most appropriate care plan.” The report states the hospitals have been working around the CCAC, asking individuals to return to the hospital for follow-up care.
Despite been given a role as system navigator, the CCAC also appeared unaware of the availability of social service programs in the community.
Long term care homes also complained that the information they were provided about new residents didn’t match with the status of the individual when they were admitted to the home. Some of these clients could have remained in the community had proper supports been available.
While complaints mostly centered on a disorganized management team, clients indicated to KPMG they had a positive relationship with their CCAC Case Manager.
OPSEU Diablogue 
-was told by CCAC, Barrie to contact Case Manager after I had had my total knee replacement. CM refused to entertain home care stating that a “knee” was not a “hip” and it didn’t qualify.-based my home care needs on steep wooden steps down to year round cottage –
CCAC would not even look at photos on laptop.
-contacted RVH patient advocate and hospital CEO, -had home care in place before I was discharged. – “discovered” well it is rumoured
that CCAC, Barrie found a loop-hole in some legislative piece of writing that enabled them to
totally cancel home care to knee replacement patients. They did this in Sept 2009 and evidently I am the first case in Simcoe/Muskoka area that “got through.” Can’t understand why CCAC in Thornhill/Peele has home care for knees. Mt. Sinai states they work with CCAC for knee replacement cases. My surgeon, Dr Korkola, RVH, visited me and stated (in front of a patient, Linda Guay) that re refers all his knee replacement cases to CCAC. Why does CCAC
override medical professionals?