Residents at Granite Ridge Care Community may soon see increased care. The Ontario government announced that is is providing $673 million to long-term care homes this year to hire and retain up to 10,000 long-term care staff across the province, leading to more direct care for residents.
Residents have been receiving an average of only two hours and 45 minutes of direct care from registered nurses, registered practical nurses and personal support workers. Direct care is hands-on care that includes personal care, such as help with eating, bathing and dressing, as well as other important tasks such as helping residents move and providing medication.
This provincial funding includes $1,953,588 going to Granite Ridge Care Community in Stittsville to hire additional staff this year. It will ensure that the long-term care residents will receive, on average, four hours of direct care per day by 2024-25.
“With over $2.8 million being invested in Granite Ridge Care Community and Osgoode Care Centre, this funding is only the beginning of better care and treatment for the residents in long-term care homes in Carleton and Ottawa,” said Goldie Ghamari, MPP for Carleton. “Our government is committed to increasing the amount of direct care each resident receives, which in turn will increase the quality of life that residents deserve.”
The funding will now increase the daily provincial average to three hours and 15 minutes, per resident per day, by the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year. The funding also includes $106.76 million for homes across the province to increase, by 10 percent, direct care provided by associated health care professionals (such as physiotherapists and social workers), who are instrumental to providing additional quality care for residents.
In January, 2021, Granite Ridge Care Community received $258,900 to help offset costs associated with COVID-19, such as screening, staffing and cleaning. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, Granite Ridge has received a total of $808,700 in provincial funding for prevention and containment supports at the long-term care home.