Cash injection ‘great for seniors,’ says Fraser
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - John Driscoll
Today’s announcement the province is giving long-term homes an additional $191 million a year to hire 2,000 staff is good news for residents and staff, says Fraser Wilson.

“It put a smile on my face,” says the OMNI CEO when asked for his initial reaction to the announcement from George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. “It’s great for seniors.

“Any time we see an injection of close to $200 million in new money to hire 2,000 additional staff, it’s very positive” Fraser says.

“It will enhance the quality of life for our people. It means more staff on the floor to look after our residents.”

The announcement is also a morale-booster for staff, he says. The increased funding works out to an additional $7 a day for resident care and will mean increasing staff at all OMNI homes, Fraser says.

Staff to be hired include registered nurses, registered practical nurses, personal support workers, restorative care workers and others, he says.

Fraser says he remains “cautiously optimistic” since there are questions still to be answered about details associated with the funding such as the effective date and how much will be designated for specific funding envelopes.

He is also encouraged by the province reversing their stand on a retroactive clawback on property tax funding for 2003. The province has dropped that clawback and agreed over the next 60 days to try to resolve the issue of a clawback on 2004 property tax funding, Fraser says.

“I am certainly happy with these developments,” he says. “It would appear the government has recognized the importance of seniors in this province.”