Flag Raised to Celebrate Personal Support Workers
To celebrate Personal Support Workers (PSW) a flag was raised today at city hall by PHARA, officials, and community members from North Bay. The event is being held in advance of the PSW Day which is held annually on May 19.
The event recognized the invaluable work PSWs do for people across the community. PSWs are the backbone of the health system and approximately 35% of all PSWs in Ontario work in the home and community sector, delivering a range of vital services that reduce the need for more expensive hospital care, emergency room visits, or long-term care. They benefit individual clients, their caregivers, and the health care system as a whole.
"Day in and day out, personal support workers embody compassion, dedication, and selflessness, going above and beyond to provide care and support to those in need,” said Mayor Chirico. “I am very pleased to proclaim May 19th as PSW Day, recognizing their invaluable contributions. Thank you to all of our PSWs for your dedication and compassion."
PSWs play a critical role in our local and national health care systems, particularly in long-term care (LTC) and home care settings. They perform a broad range of tasks, including assisting with activities of daily living.
“We love PSWs and the essential work they do,” said Mike Van der Vlist, PHARA CEO. “They are the front-line who are working hard every day to provide care and support for some of Canada’s most vulnerable populations.”
Over the past 5 years, the demand for PSWs has increased due to population aging, efforts to reduce health care costs, and a focus on “aging in place.” In Ontario, it is estimated that there are over 100,000 people working in the personal support worker field. According to the Job Bank by the Government of Canada, it is expected approximately 34,400 new PSW positions will be created nationwide before 2026.
In addition, Employment Canada notes that many full-time and part-time positions are available for personal support workers. 60 percent of PSWs work full-time, while 40 percent work part-time.
“We have been investing in our staff to help ensure they have a bright future at PHARA. This includes new training opportunities, expanding benefits, and creating a retirement savings package,” said Van der Vlist. “We also have made sure that the day-to-day aspects of providing care are easier for staff by offering them support for things such as $0.70 cents per KM for travel to a client’s home. We know that when we invest in our team, the team will invest in our clients. It’s win-win for everyone.”
For more information about services or to apply to work at PHARA, please visit their website at www.phara.org.
Additional
In home‐and community‐based care, client acuity is on the rise and care for individuals living with chronic conditions and co‐morbidities are expected to triple by 2050.
- Prince M, Prina M, Guerchet M. World Alzheimer report: an analysis of long‐term care for Dementia. 2013. https://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2013.pdf.here are approximately 100 000 PSWs in Ontario, Canada.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8865063/In Ontario, publicly funded PSW services are provided through 14 home and community care support services (HCCSS) bodies (formerly the local health integration networks [LHINs]). The newly developed Ontario Health Teams (OHT) are responsible for overall health system planning and the funding functions of these HCCSS bodies.
- https://healthcareathome.ca/See what is happening at PHARA on their social media: https://www.facebook.com/PHARACharity
PSW Day flag raising in downtown North Bay, featuring PSW workers, PHARA staff, and elected officials.
The Honourable Victor Fedeli, MPP for Nippissing, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade; Peter Chirico, Mayor of North Bay; and Mike Van der Vlist, PHARA CEO.
PSW Day flag raising event attendees.