More frontline resources ‘exciting,’ says Samuelson
Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - Roderick Benns
As the Province announces $191 million a year in new money for the long-term care sector, the administrator of OMNI’s largest home says he’s “excited about the path that has appeared before us.”

The money is earmarked for the hiring of 2,000 new staff members, among them 600 registered nurses and registered practical nurses, along with personal support workers, nurse practitioners, dieticians and activity workers.

“The apparent determination by government to recognize the fiscal deficiencies is most encouraging. The opportunity to dedicate resources to the frontline is very exciting,” says Karl Samuelson, who leads the 160-bed Garden Terrace team in Kanata.

Karl says it is residents who are “the nucleus of which everything else revolves. Any opportunity to strengthen that nucleus must be embraced.”

The new money will be designated in the upcoming provincial budget, along with an extra $340 million that was already targeted for increasing the number of long-term care beds. The Province also promised a series of reforms for accountability within the sector.

While Karl says 90 per cent of what the government has leaked seems to be very desirable, there are a few ideas that need more clarification, such as the Province’s “gold standard” homes. With this focus, homes that have had difficulties will face tough enforcement and surprise inspections, while “gold standard” homes that have high ratings for three years or more will not be inspected nearly as often.

“I’ve got a real concern with that one,” says Karl. He points out the system of compliance advisors seems to be an extremely subjective exercise. He notes, “Home ‘A’ might have no unmet standards and Home ‘B’ might have two.” Meanwhile, says Karl, Home A has a compliance advisor visiting who, by nature, is extremely reluctant to issue unmet standards, whereas Home B’s compliance advisor has a penchant for issuing them, he says.

As well, Karl points out the idea of a third-party watchdog is also a concern, given that it is yet one more layer of policing for long-term care, something acute care never has to worry about for the most part.

“What if that watchdog is a German Shepherd? That’s a commanding dog, with high intelligence,” says Karl metaphorically, and that is something easy to support.

“But what if it’s a pitbull terrier, aggressive…to the point you don’t know where it’s coming from? This idea of watchdog raises more questions than it answers,” he says.

Karl emphasizes most of the ideas and new money is positive for the sector. “This is a major step forward. I look forward to more information from the Province.”