Horwath commits to overhaul home care to help people live at home longer

KINGSTON — Andrea Horwath and an NDP government will invest at least $1 billion dollars in an overhaul of Ontario’s broken home care system, making home care reliable enough to help seniors live at home longer.

“The healthiest, happiest place for many seniors is at home. And whether your family lives in Kingston, Brampton or North Bay, we all deserve home care that makes home a safe place for as long as possible,” said Horwath. “We can help people avoid the need for hospital care or a nursing home, and give them a better quality of life as they age — in their own neighbourhood, living on their own terms.”

Previous Liberal and Conservative governments have eroded home care, turning it into a for-profit patchwork that’s hard to navigate, and where services are unreliable, inadequate and chronically understaffed.

In Kingston, where Horwath and NDP MPP Ian Arthur (Kingston and the Islands) made the announcement Tuesday, Arthur said his office regularly gets calls for help from Kingston and area families who say home care falls short for their loved ones. Last-minute cancellations, and rushed PSWs that don’t have enough time to deliver the care that’s required are common, said Arthur — who pointed to one family that was even denied home care help because providers didn’t have the capacity to make it out to Wolfe Island.

According to Ontario’s Auditor General, people who need home care often get less than they need and less than they’re entitled to, and location can determine the level of care a person gets. In 2019, the Ontario Community Support Association said 18,000 people living in long-term care could have been at home with better home care, and the Ontario Hospital Association reported 750,000 patient days where someone was stuck in a hospital bed while waiting for home or long-term care.

“Years of big cuts and bad choices by government after government have really hurt people,” said Horwath. “People are living with last-minute cancellations, PSWs that are rushed for time, and inadequate service levels. People deserve better, and if we don’t fix this, they’ll keep ending up in the hospital or long-term care unnecessarily.”

Doug Ford is privatizing Ontario’s home care system further, even handing over the development of care plans to for-profit corporations. Horwath’s plan does the opposite. By investing $1 billion on top of what Ontario invests now, Horwath will end the waits for home care, and finally deliver the support people need to live at home longer.

In 2022, the NDP will establish provincial standards for home care, and create culturally appropriate resources and training so seniors can receive care from someone who understands their culture and language. Horwath and the NDP will bring in a community based not-for-profit home-care system and end for-profit home care in Ontario — turning home care PSW jobs from temp gigs into full-time jobs with decent wages and benefits.

Background

Horwath and the NDP have released a comprehensive home care and long-term care platform, which lays out a detailed plan to make the entire system public and not-for-profit, create 50,000 new spaces, and end the wait for home care and long-term care. Horwath and the NDP’s home care and long-term care platform, Aging Ontarians Deserve the Best, includes concrete plans to:

Overhaul home care to help people live at home longer
The NDP will end the for-profit, understaffed patchwork of home care companies that make seniors wait and fail to address inequities

Make all long-term care public and not-for-profit
The NDP will stop greedy profit-making at the expense of quality of care

Build small, modern, family-like homes
The gloom of being warehoused in institution-like facilities is over

Staff up with full-time, well-paid, well-trained caregivers
Instead of the revolving door of staff run off their feet

Make family caregivers partners
The NDP will guarantee that loved ones are treated like more than just visitors

Create culturally responsive, inclusive and affirming care
The NDP will make sure seniors feel at home, surrounded by their language and culture, and make sure 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors can always live with Pride

Clear the wait list
Instead of 38,000 people waiting years for a bed, and even longer for a culturally appropriate home, Horwath and the NDP will end the waits completely

Guarantee new and stronger protections
The NDP is committed to comprehensive inspections, a Seniors’ Advocate, and more