Nurses. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / jcpjrNurses. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / jcpjr
Windsor

Ontario to hire 2,000 new nurses

The Ontario government is increasing enrollment in nursing programs at colleges and universities across the province with the aim of hiring 2,000.

That is 1,130 practical nurses and 870 registered nurses.

Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton said $35-million would create new spaces in nursing programs for the Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 semesters.

"We need you, and our loved ones need you," she said.

It will also help fund clinical placements for nursing students and personal support workers in the long-term care sector.

"Our government committed to ensuring residents in long-term care receive, on average, four hours of direct care per day," Fullerton said. "Tens of thousands of new staff need to hired to provide this care."

That commitment, over four years, was made last December after a report last spring about the environment in long-term care homes during the first wave of the pandemic. Long-term care facilities faced severe staffing challenges before COVID-19, but the virus exacerbated a difficult situation.

Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano expressed optimism there will be no shortage of applicants to nursing programs.

"If you look since the start of COVID-19, we've had a 70 per cent increase in students applying for nursing courses here in Ontario," he said. "These numbers were not picked out of thin air. The numbers that we came up with were the numbers that the stakeholders outlined for us."

Reporters again questioned Fullerton about allegations that some of the elderly who died during the first wave died of severe neglect, and not COVID-19. Last week, she abruptly walked out of a news conference after reporters raised the issue. On Friday, she suggested the government is taking a closer look at those claims.

"We're actively working right now with the coroner's office to understand where that information came from and verifying what happened," she offered. "We've got inspectors in two homes right now to interview staff and medical directors."

The Ontario NDP has called for a police investigation after the Long-Term Care Commission Report said 26 residents died of dehydration before members of the Canadian Armed Forces arrived at facilities facing extreme staffing shortages.

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