A number of metrics for home-care services have shown improvement, thanks to a new pathway for home-care workers within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) that has seen success recruiting and retaining health-care aides working in the home-care field.
“Home care is about providing dignified, compassionate services to the folks who need it most,” said Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara. “To make real progress in the delivery of home care, staffing up has to be part of the plan. The WRHA has put in a huge effort to recruit home-care workers and it’s paying off. It’s all good news: fewer vacancies, more visits and less frustrating cancellations for people. I want to extend my appreciation to the WRHA for their hard work and congratulate our new recruits. Welcome to a career in health care.”
The WRHA home-care program has recruited 256 new health-care aides since October 2023.
The new recruits have helped reduce the vacancy rate for health-care aides providing home care within the WRHA to 10.5 per cent as of the end of May from 24 per cent in January 2023, a more-than fifty per cent improvement, noted the minister. The cancellation rate for Winnipeg-area home-care services has dropped to 1.38 per cent as of April from 5.02 per cent in January 2023. The number of monthly home-care visits have increased from 384,000 to 445,000 since January 2023. This, in turn, has contributed to a higher level of reliable care and reduced the need for home-care clients to rely on family members or close contacts for their health-care needs, said Asagwara.
“Providing a more reliable, consistent and predictable home-care service has been a major priority for the Winnipeg health region,” said Tara-Lee Procter, regional lead, WRHA Community and Continuing Care. “We want clients to be able to safely stay in their homes as long as they can, and having a robust home care service is paramount to ensuring we are able to offer that support.”
For more information about home-care services in Manitoba, visit gov.mb.ca.
