Ontario Nurses' Association Launches New Campaign in Chatham, Wallaceburg: Radio ads raise awareness of value, role of CCAC Care Coordinators

CHATHAM, WALLACEBURG, ON, Sept. 29, 2014 /CNW/ - The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) will begin airing ads on Chatham and Wallaceburg radio today to raise awareness of the value and role of the area's registered nurses and allied health professionals working as Community Care Access Centre Care Coordinators.

"Care Coordinators are on our side," said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. "In today's complicated health care system, with more services being moved from our hospitals and patients being discharged quicker, we want the people of Chatham and Wallaceburg to be aware of the valuable skills and knowledge of Care Coordinators. These dedicated registered nurses and allied health professionals are there to assess their patients, develop personal care plans and arrange for vital health services for those who need them."

Haslam-Stroud says there is a widespread lack of understanding of exactly what Care Coordinators do for their patients. The ads aim to change this.

"Care Coordinators are enormously valuable to a health care system that is experiencing incredibly tight budgets," says Haslam-Stroud, noting that their services save the system a great deal of money.

"Enabling our patients to receive wound care at home, or physiotherapy needed to recover from an injury allows them to recover in their own environment – saving money and ensuring that our patients are supported," she said. "Safe care at home is the best we can aim for, and Care Coordinators make it possible."

Two ads will air in rotation in Chatham and Wallaceburg; one tells the story of a family with a child suffering a serious, chronic illness who needs care to keep her at home. The second illustrates an elderly woman's relief at having a Care Coordinator arrange physiotherapy and personal care at home following hip surgery. The ads can be heard on ONA's website beginning on October 1 (www.ona.org/ccac).

Haslam-Stroud says that every resident is lucky to have access to the services of Ontario's Care Coordinators as the health care system in the province evolves.

ONA is the union representing 60,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.                               

Visit us at: www.ona.org; Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; Twitter.com/OntarioNurses

SOURCE: Ontario Nurses' Association

Ontario Nurses' Association: Sheree Bond, [phone], ext. 2430; cell: [phone]; [email protected]; Ruth Featherstone, [phone], ext. 2257; [email protected]