Ontario Opening up to 130 New Transitional Care Beds in the Greater Toronto Area
Investing in Innovative Models to Build Healthier Communities and Help End Hallway Health Care
The Voice of Canada News:
TORONTO — As part of its comprehensive plan to end hallway health care, Ontario is expanding innovative and proven reactivation care models to help ease growing pressures on hospitals. Reactivation care models provide the right level of care for patients who no longer need to be in a hospital but are waiting to transition to home, community or long-term care.
Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, was joined by local caucus members at the North York General Hospital – Branson Ambulatory Care Centre, to announce Ontario is investing up to $1.5 million to support early planning to redevelop the facility to become a reactivation care centre. The proposed project would add up to 130 new transitional care beds to help patients across the Greater Toronto Area access the right care at the right place once hospital services are no longer needed. Upgrades to the Branson site are expected to be completed by Winter 2020-2021.
“Ontario is continuing to deliver on its plan to end hallway health care by expanding innovative patient-centred care models across the province like the Branson Site Reactivation Care Centre,” said Elliott. “The centre will support patients and their families in their health care journey by providing patients with appropriate therapy and rehabilitation care while they are waiting to transition back home, to the community or to long-term care homes.”
These new beds will help ease hospital capacity pressures and allow health care providers to support patients in the most appropriate care setting suited for their individual needs. Patients at the reactivation care centre will benefit from activity and social interaction and be able to focus on restorative care to help improve their health outcomes.
“I am proud that our government took the opportunity to revitalize the Branson site,” said Roman Baber, MPP for York Centre. “This investment will provide much needed relief to the people of North Toronto, while leveraging an existing health care asset. Committing to a Reactivation Care Centre at Branson is an important step in ending hallway health care in Ontario.”
“This type of investment, in addition to the establishment of Ontario Health Teams, is putting the health care system on the right track to eliminating hallway health care and providing patients with timely, seamless care,” says Dr. Joshua Tepper, President and CEO of North York General Hospital. “We have first-hand experience with the reactivation care model and the benefits it provides patients and families, as well as to the overall health system.”
Ontario has a comprehensive plan to end hallway health care, which includes making investments and advancing new initiatives across four pillars:
- Prevention and health promotion: keeping patients as healthy as possible in their communities and out of hospitals.
- Providing the right care in the right place: when patients need care, ensure that they receive it in the most appropriate setting, not always the hospital. This includes expanding innovative and proven reactivation care spaces.
- Integration and improved patient flow: better integrate care providers to ensure patients spend less time waiting in hospitals when they are ready to be discharged.
- Building capacity: build new hospital and long-term care beds while increasing community-based services across Ontario, including this investment to upgrade the Branson site to bring more beds into operation.
Quick Facts
- This project is a part of Ontario’s investment of $27 billion over 10 years to build new and expanded hospital infrastructure.
