Union can help solve crisis: president

The president of the Service Employees International Union says her members -- all of whom are health-care workers -- have a great deal to contribute to solving the health-care bed crisis.

Sharleen Stewart says personal support workers, registered practical nurses and other SEIU members can provide humane, high-quality care to the elderly and help keep them out of costly hospital beds.

Stewart was one a guest speaker at a roundtable on home care held in Sudbury on Saturday, organized by the Quality Care Alliance.

During the next 100 days, her union is going to research establishing advocacy centres for home care in major centres.

They would be offices where people can walk in and seek help for caring for family members at home.

Stewart said her union has been in the health-care industry for 70 years. A health-care worker herself, as well as a union leader, "we bring a lot of hands-on experience to the problems and solutions. We've evolved with it over 70 years with the changes in health care," she said.

Stewart said she was pleased with the discussion at the Sudbury forum where solutions were proposed.
The lack of appropriate care for the aging is a provincial and national issue, and her union wants to be a part of solving it.

"We can see how keeping the ALC beds in hospital (is not a good idea) and our own members advocate for that," she said.

If long-term care isn't the answer, often home care is.

With good quality home care, health-care dollars will be saved by keeping the elderly healthy and out of hospital or avoiding high-cost return visits to hospital.

Julien Dionne, president of SOAR (Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees), attended the forum as an activist and a consumer. SOAR has 14,000 members in Sudbury, some of them in nursing homes and alternate level of care beds.

Members are affected by cuts to home care.

"To create a bloc and help run these things in a better fashion is certainly a dream of mine," said Dionne, one of the organizers of the forum.

Joshua Dias is a first-year student at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine who participated in the roundtable.

"It's important for medical students to know the needs of the future," said Dias. "As the population is shifting, we really have to pay attention to how we're going to provide the same level of health care with reduced resources."

Terry Tilleczek is a senior planner with the North East Local Health Integration Network and co-chair of the Sudbury ALC Community Steering Committee.

He said he found the meeting largely positive.

"We've been talking for the last number of years (that) the solutions are far and wide, and there's not a silver bullet that's going to solve this. Getting the community involved and interested and committed to participating in identifying some of the solutions is very positive."

The North East LHIN has identified home care as "the key piece" in dealing with an aging population, said Tilleczek.

For more on the Quality Care Alliance, visit ontariansforqualityhomecare.ca.

Carol Mulligan, The Sudbury Star
cmulligan@thesudburystar.com