Budget 2012 Investments Focus on Long-Term Care
and Community Support

Through Budget 2012: People and Prosperity – Responsible Investments for a Secure Future, approximately $101 million is being invested to strengthen the long-term care and community support system to further meet the needs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians now and into the future.

“Our government has committed to providing essential long-term care and community support services as close to an individual’s home as possible, especially in rural Newfoundland and Labrador,” said the Honourable Susan Sullivan, Minister of Health and Community Services. “We recognize that we have to make strategic investments to meet the challenges of an aging population to help deliver important and valuable services to those who require long-term care. The investments we are making in Budget 2012 will build on the ongoing development of the long-term care strategy which will be announced within the coming weeks.”

Home Support Program Enhancements
An investment of $18.3 million in Budget 2012 will respond to the significant growth in the Home Support Program over the past number of years and further build upon the ongoing improvements recently made to the program. Investments include:

• $14 million increase for the Home Support Program to address anticipated program growth in 2012-13 as more seniors are accessing and applying to the program;
• $3.8 million to increase the current home support hourly subsidy rate from $12.00 to $12.25, increasing the differential above minimum wage to $2.25, and increasing the financial ceilings for clients to ensure that the maximum hours of care are maintained. In the last five years this rate has increased approximately 50 per cent. This is in addition to funding provided to the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services which includes the same increase, specifically for respite and behavioural aide service workers; and,
• $508,900 for 12 additional positions in the regional health authorities to improve the quality of services delivered to home support and other community support services clients.

“The demand for home support continues to grow as our population ages and individuals wish to remain independent and in their own homes as long as possible,” said Minister Sullivan. “We are investing to meet the demand so there is greater opportunity to benefit from home support. These investments will help individuals avail of home support services, improve access and quality of care as well as provide a greater financial incentive to people to enter this valued and important area of work.”

Continued Investments in Long-Term Care
Determining the level of care that an individual requires and ensuring care providers have a deep understanding of an individual’s care needs and the support they require is important. Through Budget 2012, $1.9 million is provided to implement the assessment tools to help determine the best level of care for an individual as well as to provide access to personal care homes.

Investments include:

• $1.3 million to continue the implementation of the interRAI assessment instrument, which is used to help determine care plans for individuals in long-term care and community support services programs. This funding will be used for nine new positions to provide technical support related to the assessment instrument, clinical coordinators, and software installation and integration; and,
• $612,000 to add 100 new portable subsidies to the Personal Care Home Program to increase an individual’s ability to choose their preferred personal care home. Currently the Provincial Government provides 1,711 portable subsidies, an increase of 681 since 2007.

Long-Term Care Infrastructure
Improvements to new and existing long-term care facilities continue to be made throughout the province. As part of the overall health care infrastructure investment, Budget 2012 allocates $81.1 million for the ongoing development of five important long-term care infrastructure projects, which is part of the Provincial Government’s overall $230.5 million investment in health care infrastructure.

The projects are:

• $45 million for the continued construction of the St. John’s Long-term Care Facility;
• $23 million for the continued construction of the Carbonear Long-term Care Facility;
• $8.5 million for continued redevelopment of the North Haven Manor in Lewisporte;
• $3 million for the long-term care facility in Corner Brook; and,
• $1.6 million for construction of a Dementia Care Bungalow in Bonavista.

“Our government has recognized the need to both upgrade and build new long-term care infrastructure that is modern, includes new technology and equipment and is suited to the needs of people and new technologies and equipment,” said Minister Sullivan. “Over the past several years we have opened new long-term care facilities in Clarenville, Corner Brook and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Our investments are being felt across our province and we are ensuring that these facilities will provide long-term care services to many generations of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.”

- 30 -

Media contact:
Jennifer Tulk
Director of Communications
Department of Health and Community Services
709-729-1377, 699-6524
jennifertulk@gov.nl.ca 

2012 04 24                                2:45 p.m.