CCAC to cut nursing visits

The Converged Citizen Staff

The Erie St. Clair Community Care Access Centre is planning to cut services to address its deficit.

According to documents acquired by the Converged Citizen the local CCAC has a deficit of $5.9 million. They have been meeting with the Local Health Integration Network to devise strategies to ensure they have a balanced budget going forward.

The 11 page document explains how they got to this point, what they plan on doing to balance the budget. It even instructs service providers how to answer patients questions about why they are being discontinued or having their visits reduced. The CCAC plans to reduce visits by 33 per cent or 300 visits a week. They also plan to hire seven more care co-ordinators and reduce the average cost per short stay patient by 23 per cent.
Many of the strategies include fostering partnerships with community support service agencies and connecting patients with these agencies instead of treating them through CCAC. One such example is respite services.

“We can no longer provide respite services as it is a duplication of resources when there are community agencies that provide this service,” according to the CCAC documents.

The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County provides many different services, some of which fall under services that CCAC is looking to eliminate like respite care. Several agency spokespeople said they are not able to comment on the CCAC cuts until there is more information about the effect on their programs.

Another community service provider, the Canadian Diabetes Association, offers services and programs to people who have diabetes. Diabetes can lead to foot ulcers and other medical conditions that could require CCAC involvement. In an email statement, Harriet Lee, the communications manager for CDA, said they are leaders in the fight against diabetes and are aware of the CCAC cuts.

“The Canadian Diabetes Association believes people living with diabetes should have access the best health care possible in order to live their lives to their full potential,” said Lee. “We’re aware of the changes CCAC has put in place, and we will be assessing the impact it may or may not have on people living with diabetes in Ontario.”

Numerous attempts to contact CCAC for clarification have gone unanswered. If you or someone you know has had their services discontinued or changed by CCAC recently and you don’t agree with the changes you can file an appeal with CCAC on their website at http://healthcareathome.ca/eriestclair/en . This site also has other useful information about CCAC and the services they provide. If you would like to speak to someone in person you can call 1-888-310-7230 for more information.