Category Archives: CCAC

PARRY SOUND – Parry Sound personal support workers for the Victorian Order of Nurses ratified their contract last night after employer demands for a travel time concession were taken off the table.

The 40 members of OPSEU Local 320 voted unanimously to accept the four year deal after VON dropped a plan that would have had the workers travel up to 40 km per day without any payment for travel time.

“Facing a four year wage freeze, workers absolutely refused any further concessions from the agency,” said Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “They made it clear this was going to be their line in the sand.”

VON had maintained their costs would make them less likely to win the next home care competition. OPSEU is arguing such competitions are a race to the bottom and are driving skilled workers out of the home care sector.

The VON personal support workers have been without a contract since 2008 when they were divested from the local hospital. The new agreement runs to 2012.

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.