Tag Archives: Ontario Health Quality Council

06.03.10
by

Long Term Care Waitlists Growing – Homes Challenged to Respond

The Ontario Health Quality Council’s annual report, released today, sheds light on the stark reality in the province’s long term care system – demand far outstrips supply.

“There are about 76,000 long term care beds in homes across the province, which are 98 per cent full, and there is a waitlist of over 25,000 people. It’s not hard to see that this is creating backlogs in patient flow across the health care system,” said Donna Rubin, CEO of the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS).

In an analysis of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s waitlist data, OANHSS calculates that the greatest demand exists in the not-for-profit sector. Not-for-profits account for just over 40 per cent of all homes in the province and less than one half of all beds, but they are the number one preference of two thirds of individuals on the total provincial waitlist.

Full story

06.03.10
by

Failure to reduce long-term care and emergency waiting lists a black mark against McGuinty and LHINs

Too many people in Ontario are still waiting too long for the medical care they need, the Ontario Health Quality Council said Thursday in its 2010 annual report.

The council, an independent, arm’s-length agency, said progress had been made in reducing wait times for some surgeries and procedures, but others were still unacceptably long.

“When only 53 per cent of those urgent cancer cases are completed within the two-week target, when about one-quarter of people spend more time in the emergency department than is recommended and desirable, and when the wait time for a long-term care bed is three times what it was in 2005, then it is obvious that the system has some significant issues to address,” said council chair Lynn McLeod.

“In many areas of care too many people still wait too long.”

Full story