National Post
May 20, 2009
Private sector attracts more nurses
Home health-care demand will only increase, say operators
by Derek Sankey, CanWest News Service
Also appeared in the Vancouver Sun, the Montreal Gazette, the Regina Leader-Post, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix.
Companies operating in the private sector of health-care delivery are growing rapidly and attracting an increasing number of nurses and other health-care workers, according to home health-care service operators across Canada.
David Watson's Ontario company, Premier Homecare Services, recently expanded its scope beyond non-medical services, so he has hired registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) to serve the medical side of his business, which is now being franchised.
He says the lure of the private sector, despite generally lower pay, is a less hectic schedule and the ability to provide more personalized service to clients.
RNs and LPNs (known as registered practical nurses in Ontario, or RPNs) are responding to new opportunities in the private sector.
"I know that the ... nursing community is feeling the pinch," Watson says.
"There's not a lot of them out there, but I think there's a number of RNs and RPNs who don't want to work in that institutional setting."
The Canadian Healthcare Association recently released a paper that outlined what John Schram, president of We Care Health Services, says he has known for years: there are four main reasons why home care services are growing so fast.
- Canada has a rapidly aging population. Statistics Canada reports that today about 13 per cent of the population is aged 65 or older. That number is forecast to grow to 25 per cent over the next 20 years.
- People also prefer to get care in their own homes, and research shows people tend to heal quicker when at home instead of in a hospital or health-care setting.
- Technology now allows nurses and caregivers to accomplish more, such as measuring vital signs remotely.
- All governments, as they try to contain their health-care budgets, seem to be starting to realize that care in the home comes at a lower cost.
"We've got these horrendous wait times and it's going to continue to grow," says Schram.
"Everything is going fast and crazy. We've been in a nursing shortage crisis for many years."
The Canadian Institute for Health Information reports that home care in Canada is a market worth about $6.6 billion annually, which is less than four per cent of all the money spent on health care by governments in Canada.
Schram, whose company employs more than 5,000 health workers in 50 offices scattered across 10 provinces, predicts home care will continue to grow at a rapid pace as governments realize the value of making the services a bigger part of health-care delivery.
"There are a lot of things being done in the home now that were unheard of even a few years ago," says Schram, citing examples such as dialysis, intravenous therapy and pain management.
As the number of cases of chronic diseases rises rapidly alongside the aging population, home care can play a vital role in removing people from hospitals who don't need to be there.
"I think (home care) is going to be a very important and integral part of the health-care system," he says. "Home care should be investigated when you first go into a hospital."
Ken Sim, co-founder of Nurse Next Door, agrees: "We're seeing huge demand in health care, specifically in home care."
His franchised home-care services company has grown 25 per cent in the past six months alone.
"I think we're not just a recession-proof business, but we actually do really well in a recession," Sim says.
RNs, LPNs, certified caregivers, personal support workers, personal-care aides, companion caregivers, cognitive retention therapists -- there's a wide array of occupations expanding into the private-sector home-care field.
Many private operators are not directly affiliated with any health authority or provincial agency, while others -- including several large non-profit home-care operators -- bid on contracts that many regional health authorities outsource.
Nurses can even find work with insurance companies who hire them to conduct medical exams on clients making claims.
Sim advises any health professional considering a career in the private sector to ensure they are doing it for the correct reasons and to find an employer that shares the same values as they do.
"My advice to people looking for employment in health care is that when they're looking at an organization, make sure there's a core value fit," he says.
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