August 19, 2022
The changes are an effort to stabilize the healthcare system and the government maintains patients won’t be paying out of pocket for any of them. The measures include:
- Increasing surgeries performed by private clinics but covered by OHIP;
- Paramedics will have the ability to take patients to places other than ERs to treat patients at home or be taken to another care facility;
- In LTC, legislation will allow patients awaiting a bed to be transferred to a temporary home while they await space. It will take beds used for COVID-19 isolation and make them available for people on wait lists; and
- Modifying a program to deploy nurses full-time across multiple hospitals in a region and expanding a program for mid-to-late career or retired nurses to mentor new nurses.
The province will also temporarily cover the exam and registration fees for internationally trained and retired nurses for up to $1,500 and plans to invest $57 million over three years to increase the number of nurse practitioners working in LTC homes. The Health Minister predicts 2,500 hospital beds will open up and up to 6,000 more healthcare workers will be added as a result of the plan.
Related:
L’Ontario présente un Plan pour rester ouvert : Stabilité et relance pour le système de santé - Gouvernement de l'Ontario