Title
HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE
Anne Wolnik, Director of Home and Community Care provided a presentation on the Programs and Services to Support Seniors in the Community.
Ms. Wolnik discussed slides concerning the following topics:
• What is Home and Community Care Support Services;
• Where We Work: the community, homes, neighbourhoods, and hospitals;
• How We Help Patients and Families: assessments, services, support, and guidance;
• Programs, such as specialized nursing services, adult community independence, homeless support, and much more;
• Patients serviced last year;
• Impacts: referrals, PSW service hours, home care services, in-house nursing visits, nursing clinics;
• Ontario Health Teams (OHT) in North Simcoe Muskoka: 60+ providers across full spectrum of care;
• Challenges of servicing remote and rural communities;
• Service Demands and Patient Care Trends: demographic pressures - seniors;
• Referral Services: over 60 percent referred from hospitals;
• Home care patient population;
• Increasing complexity of patient care needs;
• Stresses on Caregivers: less access to long-term care beds, young adults with development support needs, and aging parents;
• Provincial long-term care placement and waitlist;
• Prioritizing service delivery in response to the pandemic and groundwork for OHT to deliver Home and Community Care; and
• COVID-19 - addressing unprecedented health care needs and working together.
The Committee asked questions of Ms. Wolnik and received responses.