Chronic Care Fact Sheet

Chronic care is in for the fight of its life. That's because the government is intent on providing cheaper and cheaper care. They're closing more than 3500 Chronic Care beds. The real plans call for many of these most vulnerable patients to be dumped into much cheaper long- term care.

Here's a quick look at the differences:

Chronic Care	Long Term Care
Covered under the Canada Health Act	Not covered
$200+ per day per bed funding	Only $90
4-11 hours of nursing care per day	No minimum
8 doctors' visits per month under OHIP	Only 4 per month
Therapeutic care provided as needed such as Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Language Pathology	Limited Care
Drugs provided	Drugs not covered
Dental care provided	Dental not covered

As you can see, Chronic Care patients are going to be hit with many new health bills that they will have to pay out of their own pocket to supplement the missing care.  Others, who can't afford it, will see their health compromised.

Runnymede, Riverdale, St. Joseph's (Thunder Bay) and St. Peter's (Hamilton) are being closed as Chronic Care hospitals and downgraded to long-term care centres.  As is shown above, there's a big difference between the two.  We must demand that the beds continue to be fully funded at the Chronic Care levels of $200+/day with full services, staffing and full OHIP coverage.