The Ontario Liberals announced 20 new programs in Hamilton directed at assisting seniors navigate their way to a better healthy lifestyle, including 5,000 new long-term care beds over four years at a cost of about $500 million.
Premier Kathleen Wynne, along with Health Minister Eric Hoskins and Seniors Affairs Minister Dipika Damerla, made the announcement to a room full of local officials and senior advocates Nov. 7 at the Sackville Seniors Centre.
“Aging is not for the faint of heart,” said Wynne, 64, who has parents aged 91 and 89 living in their own home. “It’s a real challenge. There needs to be a level of support by someone.”
“My sisters and I, luckily there are four of us, so we have the privilege of being able to be their support team. But not everybody has that and I think we need to recognize that,” said Wynne, who participated in a Zumba class with 29 other women before attending the news conference.
The announcement included creating 5,000 new long-term care beds over the next four years starting in 2018-19, with the expectation of establishing 30,000 new long-term beds within 10 years. Hoskins said there will be an additional 15 million more hours of nursing, personal support and therapeutic care annually, which translate into four more additional hours per day for seniors.
The cost, said David Jensen, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, is estimated to be about $500 million for the 5,000 new beds. There is no cost projection for the 30,000 new long-term care beds. He said the funding for the proposed beds is not part of the $155 million that was announced in Hamilton.
Hoskins, whose parents are each 88, said the province will identify priority needs for diverse communities to use the new beds, including the Indigenous community.
“That is a qualified improvement in the long-term care,” he said.
The funding and program announcement was in response to the Ontario government’s report called Aging with Confidence: Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors, created in 2013.
Hamilton Mountain NDP MPP Monique Taylor was unimpressed with the announcement.
“I don’t believe it will do anything to address the immediate crisis (in long-term care beds),” said Taylor.
She said there are about 25,000 seniors already on a wait list for a long-term care bed in Ontario hospitals or at home.
“This is a five-year-old report that has been dusted off,” she said. “Our seniors will age even more during the next few years. It will not put a dent in the (wait list).”
Other announced programs, which are part of a $155-million action plan over three years, included $15 million over two years to create “naturally occurring” retirement communities involving renovating apartment buildings or housing developments; an additional $7 million to be invested in age-friendly communities, such as Hamilton; $18 million to allow seniors to connect with youth and stay socially active; and $6 million to establish a consumer protection program to safeguard seniors from being ripped off and to prevent elder abuse.
The Liberals also announced the establishment of a website specially created for seniors who will be able to find information about tax credits, drug coverage, powers of attorney and recreation programs. And $17 million has been allocated to provide annual high-dose influenza vaccines for seniors beginning in 2018-19.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who was at the event, said there is a desperate need for long-term care beds and affordable housing residences for seniors in the city.
“The demand is there,” he said.
He said Hamilton will as quickly as possible apply to access the provincial funding for local seniors.
“Any time they put dollars on the table (it) is a good announcement,” he said.
Questions persist about when the funding will flow to municipalities and what happens after the June 2018 election if the Liberals are not in power.
“I hope the other parties would make similar commitments to the growing senior population,” said Eisenberger. “Maybe even improve upon them.”
There are over 2 million seniors in Ontario, said Damerla. Hamilton’s 520,000 population, according to statistics is aging faster than the national average. The city’s population of people 65 and over increased from 2011 to 2016 by 17.9 per cent to more than 93,000 people from about 81,000.
Hamilton officials have been concerned about providing needed specific services to an aging demographic. In 2014, the city established an age-friendly program that included creating neighbourhoods that are pedestrian friendly, improving transit, creating more affordable housing and building safer streets.
Across the country, Canada saw the largest-ever increase in its senior population from 2011 to 2016 at 16.9 per cent, says Statistics Canada. Officials project by 2061 there could be 12 million seniors and fewer than eight million children. By 2031, close to one in four Canadians could be 65 years of age or older.
Wynne spent the entire day in Hamilton on Nov. 7. After the announcement at Sackville Seniors Centre, she participated in a discussion with artists and entrepreneurs at Art Aggregate. Then she took part in a roundtable discussion on economic fairness at the Dr. John M. Perkins Centre in downtown Hamilton, followed by a visit to Saint Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church on Barton Street.
The Ontario Liberals announced 20 new programs in Hamilton directed at assisting seniors navigate their way to a better healthy lifestyle, including 5,000 new long-term care beds over four years at a cost of about $500 million.
Premier Kathleen Wynne, along with Health Minister Eric Hoskins and Seniors Affairs Minister Dipika Damerla, made the announcement to a room full of local officials and senior advocates Nov. 7 at the Sackville Seniors Centre.
“Aging is not for the faint of heart,” said Wynne, 64, who has parents aged 91 and 89 living in their own home. “It’s a real challenge. There needs to be a level of support by someone.”
“My sisters and I, luckily there are four of us, so we have the privilege of being able to be their support team. But not everybody has that and I think we need to recognize that,” said Wynne, who participated in a Zumba class with 29 other women before attending the news conference.
The announcement included creating 5,000 new long-term care beds over the next four years starting in 2018-19, with the expectation of establishing 30,000 new long-term beds within 10 years. Hoskins said there will be an additional 15 million more hours of nursing, personal support and therapeutic care annually, which translate into four more additional hours per day for seniors.
The cost, said David Jensen, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, is estimated to be about $500 million for the 5,000 new beds. There is no cost projection for the 30,000 new long-term care beds. He said the funding for the proposed beds is not part of the $155 million that was announced in Hamilton.
Hoskins, whose parents are each 88, said the province will identify priority needs for diverse communities to use the new beds, including the Indigenous community.
“That is a qualified improvement in the long-term care,” he said.
The funding and program announcement was in response to the Ontario government’s report called Aging with Confidence: Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors, created in 2013.
Hamilton Mountain NDP MPP Monique Taylor was unimpressed with the announcement.
“I don’t believe it will do anything to address the immediate crisis (in long-term care beds),” said Taylor.
She said there are about 25,000 seniors already on a wait list for a long-term care bed in Ontario hospitals or at home.
“This is a five-year-old report that has been dusted off,” she said. “Our seniors will age even more during the next few years. It will not put a dent in the (wait list).”
Other announced programs, which are part of a $155-million action plan over three years, included $15 million over two years to create “naturally occurring” retirement communities involving renovating apartment buildings or housing developments; an additional $7 million to be invested in age-friendly communities, such as Hamilton; $18 million to allow seniors to connect with youth and stay socially active; and $6 million to establish a consumer protection program to safeguard seniors from being ripped off and to prevent elder abuse.
The Liberals also announced the establishment of a website specially created for seniors who will be able to find information about tax credits, drug coverage, powers of attorney and recreation programs. And $17 million has been allocated to provide annual high-dose influenza vaccines for seniors beginning in 2018-19.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who was at the event, said there is a desperate need for long-term care beds and affordable housing residences for seniors in the city.
“The demand is there,” he said.
He said Hamilton will as quickly as possible apply to access the provincial funding for local seniors.
“Any time they put dollars on the table (it) is a good announcement,” he said.
Questions persist about when the funding will flow to municipalities and what happens after the June 2018 election if the Liberals are not in power.
“I hope the other parties would make similar commitments to the growing senior population,” said Eisenberger. “Maybe even improve upon them.”
There are over 2 million seniors in Ontario, said Damerla. Hamilton’s 520,000 population, according to statistics is aging faster than the national average. The city’s population of people 65 and over increased from 2011 to 2016 by 17.9 per cent to more than 93,000 people from about 81,000.
Hamilton officials have been concerned about providing needed specific services to an aging demographic. In 2014, the city established an age-friendly program that included creating neighbourhoods that are pedestrian friendly, improving transit, creating more affordable housing and building safer streets.
Across the country, Canada saw the largest-ever increase in its senior population from 2011 to 2016 at 16.9 per cent, says Statistics Canada. Officials project by 2061 there could be 12 million seniors and fewer than eight million children. By 2031, close to one in four Canadians could be 65 years of age or older.
Wynne spent the entire day in Hamilton on Nov. 7. After the announcement at Sackville Seniors Centre, she participated in a discussion with artists and entrepreneurs at Art Aggregate. Then she took part in a roundtable discussion on economic fairness at the Dr. John M. Perkins Centre in downtown Hamilton, followed by a visit to Saint Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church on Barton Street.
The Ontario Liberals announced 20 new programs in Hamilton directed at assisting seniors navigate their way to a better healthy lifestyle, including 5,000 new long-term care beds over four years at a cost of about $500 million.
Premier Kathleen Wynne, along with Health Minister Eric Hoskins and Seniors Affairs Minister Dipika Damerla, made the announcement to a room full of local officials and senior advocates Nov. 7 at the Sackville Seniors Centre.
“Aging is not for the faint of heart,” said Wynne, 64, who has parents aged 91 and 89 living in their own home. “It’s a real challenge. There needs to be a level of support by someone.”
“My sisters and I, luckily there are four of us, so we have the privilege of being able to be their support team. But not everybody has that and I think we need to recognize that,” said Wynne, who participated in a Zumba class with 29 other women before attending the news conference.
The announcement included creating 5,000 new long-term care beds over the next four years starting in 2018-19, with the expectation of establishing 30,000 new long-term beds within 10 years. Hoskins said there will be an additional 15 million more hours of nursing, personal support and therapeutic care annually, which translate into four more additional hours per day for seniors.
The cost, said David Jensen, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, is estimated to be about $500 million for the 5,000 new beds. There is no cost projection for the 30,000 new long-term care beds. He said the funding for the proposed beds is not part of the $155 million that was announced in Hamilton.
Hoskins, whose parents are each 88, said the province will identify priority needs for diverse communities to use the new beds, including the Indigenous community.
“That is a qualified improvement in the long-term care,” he said.
The funding and program announcement was in response to the Ontario government’s report called Aging with Confidence: Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors, created in 2013.
Hamilton Mountain NDP MPP Monique Taylor was unimpressed with the announcement.
“I don’t believe it will do anything to address the immediate crisis (in long-term care beds),” said Taylor.
She said there are about 25,000 seniors already on a wait list for a long-term care bed in Ontario hospitals or at home.
“This is a five-year-old report that has been dusted off,” she said. “Our seniors will age even more during the next few years. It will not put a dent in the (wait list).”
Other announced programs, which are part of a $155-million action plan over three years, included $15 million over two years to create “naturally occurring” retirement communities involving renovating apartment buildings or housing developments; an additional $7 million to be invested in age-friendly communities, such as Hamilton; $18 million to allow seniors to connect with youth and stay socially active; and $6 million to establish a consumer protection program to safeguard seniors from being ripped off and to prevent elder abuse.
The Liberals also announced the establishment of a website specially created for seniors who will be able to find information about tax credits, drug coverage, powers of attorney and recreation programs. And $17 million has been allocated to provide annual high-dose influenza vaccines for seniors beginning in 2018-19.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who was at the event, said there is a desperate need for long-term care beds and affordable housing residences for seniors in the city.
“The demand is there,” he said.
He said Hamilton will as quickly as possible apply to access the provincial funding for local seniors.
“Any time they put dollars on the table (it) is a good announcement,” he said.
Questions persist about when the funding will flow to municipalities and what happens after the June 2018 election if the Liberals are not in power.
“I hope the other parties would make similar commitments to the growing senior population,” said Eisenberger. “Maybe even improve upon them.”
There are over 2 million seniors in Ontario, said Damerla. Hamilton’s 520,000 population, according to statistics is aging faster than the national average. The city’s population of people 65 and over increased from 2011 to 2016 by 17.9 per cent to more than 93,000 people from about 81,000.
Hamilton officials have been concerned about providing needed specific services to an aging demographic. In 2014, the city established an age-friendly program that included creating neighbourhoods that are pedestrian friendly, improving transit, creating more affordable housing and building safer streets.
Across the country, Canada saw the largest-ever increase in its senior population from 2011 to 2016 at 16.9 per cent, says Statistics Canada. Officials project by 2061 there could be 12 million seniors and fewer than eight million children. By 2031, close to one in four Canadians could be 65 years of age or older.
Wynne spent the entire day in Hamilton on Nov. 7. After the announcement at Sackville Seniors Centre, she participated in a discussion with artists and entrepreneurs at Art Aggregate. Then she took part in a roundtable discussion on economic fairness at the Dr. John M. Perkins Centre in downtown Hamilton, followed by a visit to Saint Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church on Barton Street.