Ontario expands Aging at Home program

Ontario is expanding its successful Aging at Home program and community care initiatives to reduce pressure on Ontario’s emergency rooms. Another $187 million is being invested in the Aging at Home program that funds initiatives at the local level to allow seniors to live independently at home. There is $60 million for increased home care, personal support and homemaking services provided by Community Care Access Centres, and $22 million for Ontario’s 14 Local Health Integration Networks to invest in local solutions for alternate level of care patients who are taking up hospital beds while waiting for a placement in community care. There is also $3.5 million for nurse-led outreach teams to provide more care to patients in long-term care homes and help them avoid transfers to hospital ERs. (News release at www.health.gov.on.ca)