■ Province offering free tuition to aspiring personal support workers,
But critics warn benefits, better wages, sick leave needed to stop attrition
Ontario is offering free college tuition to aspiring personal support workers for nursing homes and home care, but critics warn better wages, full-time jobs, benefits and paid sick days are needed to stem high levels of attrition in a field under the spotlight during COVID-19.
Hailing PSWs as “heroes” in the pandemic for taking care of the frail elderly in dangerous conditions, and acknowledging they are “underpaid, overworked and understaffed,” Premier Doug Ford unveiled a $115million program to cover or subsidize tuition for 24 community college programs.
“This is how we correct decades of neglect,” Ford said in a reference to his government’s promise to boost staffing and provide four hours of daily hands-on care for nursing home residents within four years, up from just under three hours now.
About 6,600 nursing home workers have contracted COVID-19 and 11 have died. There are no statistics on how many caught the virus on the job, but almost 15,000 nursing home residents have tested positive and more than 3,800 have died. Cases have declined dramatically since vaccinations began.
While Ford has temporary $3 wage top-ups in place for nursing home PSWs until March 31, the province has not committed to extending them. Personal support workers, who are mostly women, make about $20 hourly helping residents with feeding, toileting, diaper changes, grooming and dressing.
Starting April 5, the college PSW programs designed in consultation with the government will be fast-tracked to completion in six months instead of eight with more hours of weekly study, increasing the supply of personal support workers in early fall. Applica- tions open in early March.
Six thousand successful applicants will get free tuition and paid clinical training placements in nursing homes or home and community care, while 2,200 students now enrolled in PSW programs will get $2,000 grants to defray their costs.
The effort won applause even as critics wondered why Ontario didn’t act sooner, given moves by Quebec and British Columbia last summer to dramatically increase hiring of PSWs after the first wave of COVID-19 left many nursing homes unable to cope with the needs of residents.
That first wave left many nursing homes in Ontario devastated by infections in both residents and staff, resulting in absenteeism and resignations that left the hardest-hit homes down to 20 per cent of their staff and prompting Ford to bring in Canadian Armed Forces medical teams.
New Democrat MPP Sara Singh (Brampton Centre) said the delay in training more PSWs means Ontario’s nursing homes may not be ready for “a potential third wave, either.”
The Ontario Long-Term Care Association welcomed the premier’s announcement.
“This fast-tracked program with financial support removes the barriers that keep many good people from pursuing the field,” said chief executive Donna Duncan.
Representing PSWs, the Canadian Union of Public Employees called on Ford to at least double the number of free training spots and improve pay and benefits to have any hope of offsetting attrition and reaching the number of staff needed to make the four-hour standard of care a reality.
“Ontario is losing thousands of PSWs to attrition each year,” said CUPE secretary-treasure Candace Rennick, noting the field is mostly female.
“The free tuition and paid clinical placement is a gender breakthrough and must be the start to significant changes needed to increase pay, staffing and care levels that would make jobs in long-term care appealing to a new generation of workers.”
Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton said half of PSWs bail out of training programs and 50 per cent of those who graduate quit their jobs within two years, but evaded a question on providing paid sick days.
Sue VanderBent, the chief executive of Home Care Ontario said there is an “exodus” of PSWs from her sector to nursing homes because wages are higher there and called on the province to close the gap.