NEWS RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT: Jennifer Stevens
VON Canada
(613) 233-8825 ext. 228
stevensj@von.ca
http://www.von.ca 

LINDSAY, ONTARIO – January 8, 2001. It is with regret and sadness that the Victorian Order of Nurses Peterborough, Victoria & Haliburton Branch (VON PVH) announces that effective April 8, 2001, the Branch will no longer be able to provide nursing services in Victoria and Haliburton Counties. VON has been providing high quality nursing care to the people in Victoria and Haliburton Counties since 1974.

In 1999 VON entered into a contractual agreement with the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) for the delivery of nursing services in Victoria and Haliburton Counties. Since that time, VON has confronted several significant external challenges including the nation wide nursing shortage and a disparity of wages between community and hospital nurses making the recruitment and retention of nurses in the community extremely difficult. VON has requested but not received any money from the government for assistance with the recruitment and retention of nurses. As well the level of funding received from the Haliburton, Northumberland, Victoria CCAC has not been substantial enough for VON to recover its costs.

We have been incurring a loss in excess of $20,000 per month ($240,000 per year). Our clients have always been our top priority and rather than discontinue our services when these losses began, VON continued providing service with the expectation of additional community health care funding. It is now clear that this funding is not forthcoming. VON cannot continue to sustain this level of loss.

VON PVH has been working in partnership with the Haliburton, Northumberland, Victoria CCAC on strategies aimed at minimizing the effects of these challenges. However, without adequate funding and government support, these challenges cannot be met. We have invited the CCAC and the government to conduct an operational review of VON PVH to fully verify that we are fiscally responsible and that the current level of funding is not adequate to cover our costs.

It is the sincere desire of VON PVH to continue to deliver the high quality of nursing services in Victoria and Haliburton Counties that our community has come to expect and deserve. However, without a change in the funding level we are unable to recover our costs and continue to provide services.

We continue to receive donated dollars from generous donors for which we are truly grateful. These monies will be used to support our charitable programs that will continue to be offered in Victoria and Haliburton Counties. These include Foot Care, Adult Day Care, Acquired Brain Injury and Alzheimer Programs.

VON will also continue to provide nursing and other services in Peterborough County where the impact of external forces has not been felt to such a great extent.

VON is dedicated to being a leader in the delivery of innovative comprehensive health and social services and to influencing the development of health and social policy in Canada. We are a national health organization and registered charity offering a wide range of community health care solutions that meet the needs of Canadians from coast to coast. As a forward-thinking organization, we have the will and determination to revolutionize our organization to meet rapidly changing social and external challenges. VON is committed to quality improvement and participating in national accreditation processes developed by the Canadian Council of Health Services Accreditation.

 

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