For home care this is significant.
With their feet held to the fire by the NDP, the Wynne government announced last week they were going to invest $260 million in additional funding for home and community care services this year.
It was a significant enough announcement that the press release came from the Premier’s office, not from the Minister of Health.
Depending on how it’s allocated, this could be the single largest increase in home care funding since the Liberals came to power in October 2003.
Given the loose definition of “community,” we wonder how much of that will actually be delivered via the Community Care Access Centres and their contract agencies, and how much will end up at the Community Health Centres, Family Health Teams and other community-based provider organizations.
Unfortunately, they aren’t saying where this money will come from, only that it will be reallocated from elsewhere in the health budget. That could mean this “new” funding will also come with a sharp increase in demand from wherever the cuts are being made.
Part of that money will likely include the $33 million announced for physiotherapy delivered by the CCACs. That reverses a multi-year trend where funding for all home care therapies were being reduced at the same time as hospitals were being encouraged to reduce or axe outpatient rehab services. The end result for too many Ontarians was to pay out-of-pocket or go without.
OPSEU Diablogue 