Media Advisory: Fosterbrooke staff plan "care caravan" and rally Tuesday to stop cuts to residents' care

NEWCASTLE, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 14, 2016) - Nurses and personal support workers at Fosterbrooke Long-Term Care Home want to provide the best possible quality care for the home's frail and vulnerable residents. But recent cuts to personal support worker (PSW) staffing levels significantly threaten the quality of care that dedicated staff can provide residents, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario.

There is increasing concern, says CUPE Ontario about the impact of low resident care levels Fosterbrooke. For a portion of the day PSW staffing levels will drop considerably, with 3 staff left to care for 46 residents.

On Tuesday, April 19, 2016 between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. the Fosterbrooke staff are holding a rally and "care caravan", aimed at getting the resident care cuts rescinded. The rally begins at 1:30 p.m. in front of Fosterbrooke, 330 King Street West, Newcastle. Then a "care caravan" of vehicles is planned to drive through the town to the office area MPP Granville Anderson, located at 23 King Street West, Bowmanville.

They will be calling on MPP Anderson to help stop the care cuts at Fosterbrooke by raising the issue in the Ontario Legislature and with the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Ontario is among the lowest funders of long-term care, Canada-wide. "Even without these recent care cuts, residents are not getting the care levels the need and deserve because the province, Mr. Anderson's Liberal government, underfunds long-term care," says Candace Rennick, CUPE Ontario, secretary-treasurer.

Originally a long-term care worker, Rennick is convinced area residents and the families of Fosterbrooke residents want "care levels for residents at the home to go up, not down. Unfortunately, because of these care cuts, PSWs have considerably less time to bathe, toilet, clothe and most importantly, talk and listen to residents and respond to residents' needs right away when they call," says Rennick.

There is a growing number of Ontario families urging the provincial government to legislate a daily 4-hour care standard for long-term care residents. "We want MPP Anderson to join that movement and be a torch bearer for a 4-hour standard," says Rennick.