CCACs applaud Ontario's recognition of home and community care as a critical part of a vibrant and responsive health care system

TORONTO, Feb. 20, 2013 /CNW/ - With a pivotal role in caring for more than 630,000 people each year, Ontario's 14 Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) enthusiastically support the provincial government's commitment to increasing access to home care as articulated in the Speech from the Throne delivered yesterday.

"All parties in the legislature recognize home and community care as an integral component of an effective and innovative health care system focused on getting people the care they need when they need it. Working with our health care partners, we support the government in moving forward with Ontario's Seniors Strategy and are pleased to see that Health Links will continue to be a priority for all of us. CCACs are committed health care partners, helping to improve access and reduce wait times for Ontarians," says Dan Burns, CEO, Ontario Association for Community Care Access Centres.

CCACs are engaged with their partners in supporting people with high care needs in their homes and in the community.  Building on this work, CCACs are ready to work hand-in-hand with Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), physicians, hospitals, community service providers and others to build the strong, coordinated health care system that people need through Ontario's new Health Links patient care networks.

By encouraging a diversity of local approaches, the Health Links open new doors for innovation in health care and will promote a more coordinated care experience for the patients who need care the most, whether they are in the hospital or at home or in the community.

CCACs care for more than 300,000 seniors each year and are dedicated to supporting the Seniors Strategy by doing everything they can to address the complex and varied needs of older Ontarians holistically and sustainably - helping them to stay healthy and live safely and independently at home for as long as possible.

About Ontario's CCACs:
Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) connect people across Ontario with quality in‐home and community‐based health care. Caring for more than 600,000 Ontarians annually, we provide information, direct access to qualified care providers and community‐based services to help people come home from hospital or live independently at home.

In 2011-12, CCACs cared for more than 637,000 people, including:

• 517,965 patients receiving home care
  
  
• 79,226 children receiving health-care services in their schools
  
  
• 98,000 people accessing long-term care homes
  
  
• 25,680 patients receiving palliative care at home

Last year, this included:

• 23 million hours of personal support
  
  
• 6 million nursing visits
  
  
• 2 million hours of shift nursing care
  
  
• 1.3 million visits from therapists and other allied health providers

SOURCE: Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres

Gabriella Skubincan, Director, Communications, OACCAC
(416) 640‐4803
[email protected] 
www.oaccac.on.ca