Unions across Ontario protested on Thursday to raise awareness about the ongoing issues in Long Term Care, including right here at home.
Katrina Peterson is the Vice President for Princess Court Long Term Care for Unifor Local 324.
Peterson is also a nurse at Princess Court in Dryden and she says there were staffing issues before the COVID-19 pandemic, but now it’s much worse.
“We were in a crisis with staffing prior to COVID, so now we are definitely in a worse crisis, I would say disaster with staffing levels. It’s been very stressful for those that are there, we lost a lot of people to other jobs, had childcare issues, people have been off sick. So the staffing is extremely tight. We’re working with a skeleton crew right now, most days.”
With a second wave of COVID-19 top of mind, the situation in Long Term Care has become urgent to address.
Peterson explains, the funding and staffing announcements made by the Ford government over the past week increases money, but is far less than what is needed.
“I want to see a lot more money flow into long-term care for a permanent solution. If you look at the numbers and check the numbers with the numbers of homes that are in Ontario and break that down it’s not enough funds to provide a safe environment for workers and for the residents.”
Unions are calling on the Ford Government for the following:
- more full time staff positions
- a plan to recruit and train staff
- improve overall working conditions and pay
- ending for-profit long term care
The conditions of the work, are the condition of the care that’s being provided Peterson notes.
Vice President for Princess Court Long Term Care for Unifor Local 324 Katrina Peterson.
Peterson talks about the 6 minute challenge.
“We had to try and get ready in 6 minutes and that’s what most residents are dealing with right now and sometimes less. So we’re looking for a minimum care standard by the government, allowing for more care per residents per day, so 4 hours a day.”
Peterson adds that would mean an increase in staff and full time positions, as well as a permanent wage increase in order to keep staff from having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.
If you want to help, Peterson says it’s important to reach out to our local MPP Greg Rickford, Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Long Term Care Merilee Fullerton and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland Minister of Finance.
Unions are looking to the Ford Government for a permanent solution, not just a quick fix, with a clear plan for Long Term Care that will help them through the COVID-19 pandemic, but also long-term moving forward.
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