Staffing crisis threatens home and community care sector with 421% increase in vacant RN positions and 331% increase in vacant PSW positions
Staffing crisis threatens home and community care sector with 421% increase in vacant RN positions and 331% increase in vacant PSW positions
New survey from the Ontario Community Support Association shows sector frontline staff vacancies nearly tripled from 2020 to 2021
TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2022 - The Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) is sounding the alarm on the state of their sector with the latest survey* results on staff vacancy rates.
According to the recent OCSA member survey results for 2021, across their three top frontline positions (PSWs, RN, RPNs) for both full-time and part-time employment, 17.4% of positions are vacant. This is nearly triple last year's survey results which showed a vacancy rate of 6.8%. As well, 26.1% of all RN positions are vacant, an increase of 421% while 14.2% of full-time PSW positions are currently vacant – this is a 331% increase in vacant full-time PSW positions in the sector.
OCSA is a member organization representing more than 220 agencies across Ontario that together support more than one million Ontarians in home and community care services. The sector cares for diverse clients of all ages across the province, with a range of care needs including vulnerable clients on dialysis and home ventilators. Services include nursing care, personal care, rehabilitation, adult day programs, supportive housing/assisted living programs, Meals on Wheels, transportation, transitional care and much more.
"Our member organizations can no longer maintain current service levels without adequate resources," says OCSA CEO Deborah Simon. "These are non-profit organizations that rely on government support and fundraising. Many have long waitlists and no staff to service the clients. The shortage has led to longer waitlists, triaging of clients, and the current trajectory will lead to cancellation of programs or services and with it, increased caregiver burden as well as added pressures on long-term care (LTC) and hospitals across Ontario."
Staff are leaving the home and community care sector in droves, many to other sectors where there are incentivized opportunities to shore up similar roles in hospitals and LTC. This means PSWs in the home and community care sector have the same education yet make an average of 19% less than PSWs in the hospital sector and 9% less than PSWs working in long-term care. Registered nurses in home and community care also make significantly less despite the same education – an average of $11.00 less per hour, or 32% less than in hospitals.
OCSA is calling on the government to urgently address this by:
- Repealing Bill 124 – Home and Community Care Health Service Providers cannot compete with LTC/Hospitals that are able to pay higher wages for the same staff roles
- Making pandemic pay permanent
- Recognizing the massive wage parity issue
- Striking an urgent task force in the sector to address these HHR issues and report back to government with a system wide plan
"We've seen that this crisis has been quietly building as one arm of the system gets funding while the other, which is designed to keep people safe at home and alleviate the burden, is in dire straits. There is no longer any runway," says Simon. "We are sounding the alarm bells before it's too late."
About OCSA
Celebrating our 30th anniversary, the Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) represents close to 220 not-for-profit organizations that provide home care and community support services to over one million Ontarians. Our members help seniors and people with disabilities live independently in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. These proactive and cost-effective services improve quality of life and prevent unnecessary hospitalizations, emergency room visits and premature institutionalization. They are the key to a sustainable health care system for Ontario. For more information, visit www.ocsa.on.ca or @OCSATweets.
About the Survey*
OCSA conducted two surveys, one in February 2021 and one in February 2022. Both surveys had over 60 OCSA member responses. The returned samples represented over 11,000 frontline positions in both surveys. Both surveys asked members to identify the number of FT, PT and casual RN, RPN and PSW/Attendant care positions in their organizations and the number of people filling those positions on December 31st, 2020, January 30st, 2021, December 31st, 2021 and January 30th, 2022. We used December 2020 and December 2021 data due to data completeness. Some entries were missing January 2022 data.
For further information: Media Contact: Janice Bedore, Executive Assistant, Janice.bedore@ocsa.on.ca, 1-800-267-6272 ext. 224
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