Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton praises efforts of Ontario’s personal support workers

Ontario Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton met virtually with personal support worker students at Fleming College in Peterborough to discuss the province’s new efforts to train more PSWs.

Fleming College has received $1.1 million to offer free tuition for an accelerated PSW training program.

It’s part of $200 million the Ontario government has committed to spend on training of PSWs through both community colleges, private career colleges and district school boards as part of the province’s pledge to increase direct quality care to four hours per day for residents of long-term-care homes.

Fullerton spoke Tuesday to students enrolled in the accelerated PSW training program, which not only offers students tuition-free opportunities to complete the course work but also a chance to enter the field two months sooner than normal.

“The students were very well spoken, and I really enjoyed hearing from them,” Fullerton told The Examiner in an interview. “We talked about the job prospects in Long-Term Care and the importance of the supports we have for the program.”

The accelerated program helps PSWs not only with the theoretical training, but also offers hands-on experience in long term care.

It is important that there be enough people working in long-term-care facilities to accommodate the needs of the people living in them, she said.

“We know to get to a historic level of four hours of care per resident per day we need the staff,” Fullerton said.

“We estimate that is going to take 27,000 new staff in long term care on top of the over 8,000 we managed to get between the first and second wave.”

Fullerton, a former longtime family physician in the Ottawa area, praised PSWs currently working in the field for their level of care given to the those in long-term-care facilities.

“It is tremendously important work, and we value what they provide to our loved ones very much,” Fullerton told The Examiner.

“We are working at improving the conditions in long-term care, so we can retain them and that is part of our program with the staffing plan and the modernization of long-term care.”

A pandemic pay boost, which resulted in the hiring of more than 8,600 staff for long-term-care homes, will continue to be offered until the end of August during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is a cross-sector effort to co-ordinate and stabilize staffing in not only long-term care but PSWs in hospitals, home and community care,” Fullerton said.

Preventing further outbreaks in long-term care facilities was top of mind for Fullerton as long-term-care homes continue to stay vigilant to prevent further outbreaks.

“Vaccinations have been extremely successful, and we are encouraging the staff to be vaccinated,” Fullerton said.

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She said she recognized how much workers and long-term care homes have suffered during the pandemic.

“I know what a challenge it has been for our long-term-care homes being on the front lines and my heart goes out to everyone who has been a part of the solution,” Fullerton said.