Ontario announces plan to stabilize health care system

The Ontario government has released its thoughts on health care operations ahead of the traditionally challenging fall and winter months.

The main points of the plan, aimed at "stabilizing and rebuilding the health care system," are a dramatic increase in the number of health care workers and the freeing up of hospital beds. These additions will reportedly help reduce the strain on the broader health care system, which has been severely strained over the past few months because of staffing shortages:

"This year will also involve the Omicron strain. We need to do more to meet the current challenges, make more progress on surgical challenges, and be properly prepared for any upcoming winter surge."

The 18-page document specifies a law that would allow elderly patients in the hospital waiting to be placed in a nursing home to be transferred to an alternative facility and stay there until their preferred location opens. This innovation will free up 250 hospital beds within the first six months. Secretary of Long-Term Care Paul Calandra commented on the controversy and said the proposal would ensure patients receive care in an appropriate setting. He assured that patients would not be forced to leave the hospital against their will.

In addition, by the end of the summer, long-term care beds set aside for COVID-19 isolation will also become available. This decision was made on the advice of the provincial chief medical officer and will free up an additional 1,000 beds within six months.

The most important point was the discussion of the staffing famine. The government promised to add 6,000 more nurses, for which it would temporarily cover the cost of licensure exams, application and registration fees for internationally trained and retired nurses, which would significantly lower financial barriers and save candidates about $1500 CAD.

All these changes were announced amid alarming developments: one of the hospitals in the province, already operating for a month without an emergency department due to a shortage of staff, has not been able to cope with the problem. After the release of the government plan on Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said there was no timetable for the opening of the intensive care unit just yet.

At the same time, the Canadian media reported an interview with an Ontario nurse who was fired in March for failing to disclose her vaccination status. By the time she was fired, she had been working in health care for six years while continuing to pay off her student loan. She says she's willing to return to the ICU to help increase staffing and reduce the burden on her former colleagues. She wonders if the current requirements for health care workers are fair in the face of a severe crisis.

The Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) have no data showing how many nurses have lost their jobs due to vaccination non-compliance.