Posted by Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Laurel Myers
A steering committee, formed almost two months ago and tasked with developing solutions to the ever-growing and long-standing Alternate Level of Care (ALC) bed crisis in the city, have made a list of 10 priorities to begin taking the pressures off the system.
The Sudbury ALC Community Steering Group met on Wednesday to
finalize the list for the ALC work plan. The priorities include
a range of options and ideas for action, which are set to be
implemented over the next weeks and months, according to
members of the group.
Among the top priorities is supportive housing, which requires immediate attention, according to Terry Tilleczek, Northeast LHIN senior director, planning, integration and community engagement, and co-chair of the ALC Community Steering Committee.
"We've just completed a study across northeastern Ontario which has identified the magnitude of the problem we have," he said. "If we look at the population projections and the current capacity we have for supportive housing, the two don't match."
However, he said the challenge right now is funding.
"We're still trying to get the details around whether there is supportive housing elements within some of the infrastructure programs (in the federal budget)," he said. "What we want to do here is take a look at what opportunities might be in this community, look at various models and be ready when there are some resources available on the capital side to begin putting the shovel into the ground, and go from there."
Dr. Peter Zalan, co-chair of the ALC Community Steering Committee, said that by May, the provincial government will likely have a supportive housing policy. He also said he believes the city understands the need for supportive housing and they want to make it happen, but the question, again, is funding.
A second priority, which is already being put into motion and has received government funding, is a registered nurse long-term care home outreach program, which would treat conditions in their original settings (nursing homes) and avoid transferring residents to hospital.
"In southern Ontario, they ran a pilot project and cut down admissions by 75 per cent from nursing homes," said Zalan. "That would be an amazing improvement. We need to hire the nurses and make it happen."
Other priorities within the work plan include: alternate care/housing options using current capacity; bed capacity challenges associated with single site initiatives and transition needs; specialized services development; integrated care pathways project; enhancing primary care services in the home setting; health human resource challenges: recruitment and retention; the role of prevention and promotion; and long-term care bed needs analysis.
"It's one thing to increase capacity - we don't enough alternative care beds or supportive housing - but we also want to prevent people from becoming alternate care patients in the first place," Tilleczek said.
The steering group has identified lead organizations for each of the priorities and will meet again by March 30 to review, monitor and evaluate work plan progress.
"We know that ALC is a decade-long health care issue, and that it will take some time to get the full range of programs in place so that people can receive the services they need," Tilleczek said. "With the Steering Group, positive change is on the horizon as we have a diverse group of partners around the table to ensure this patient-focused approach to resolving ALC comes through to fruition."
