December 9, 2020
Province Provides $7.7 Million to Personal Care Homes to Cover Expenses Related to COVID-19
– – –Provincial Contribution helps Operators Address Challenges of Responding to COVID-19 on the Front Line: Friesen
The Manitoba government has provided $7.7 million for personal care homes (PCHs) to address costs related to COVID-19, Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen announced today.
“We told personal care operators and others to focus their efforts on helping to protect Manitobans – that patient care should be their first priority, and not financial considerations,” said Friesen. “Today’s announcement is another promise kept by this government, as reimbursement payments have been delivered to PCH operators.”
Early this year, the Manitoba government issued a notice to regional health authorities to assess incremental expenditures related to COVID-19 by personal care home operators and community-funded agencies. Each authority worked with these groups to receive and submit those costs.
Eligible costs include those related to staffing, enhanced cleaning procedures, and the move to the one-site model, which means that PCH staff will only work at that particular PCH, where in the past staff have worked at different PCHs on different days.
The province will provide one-time funding for the first two quarters of 2020-21, and for the remaining quarter of 2020-21 thereafter. About $7.7 million in funding has been provided to regional health authorities for the first two quarters, the minister noted.
“Protecting our seniors and vulnerable residents has been a priority of government since the start of the pandemic. We gave notice early on that we will provide this funding, ensuring front-line services weren’t affected financially, and we are pleased to now be making these payments,” said Friesen.
The province has also support PCHs by:
• procuring personal protective equipment (PPE) and creating a distribution protocol for the health-care system,
• limiting the movement of staff to ensure they are assigned only to a single site to mitigate the spread of the virus, and
• investing $17.9 million to develop all-season shelters that allow residents to safely visit with loved ones, the majority of which have now been delivered.
For up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.
For up-to-date information on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System, visit:
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