PSW shortage in Renfrew County at 'cataclysmic proportions'

Bonnechere Manor long-term care home in Renfrew, Ont. (Dylan Dyson/CTV News Ottawa)

RENFREW, ONT. — At the Bonnechere Manor long-term care home in Renfrew, the shortage of personal support workers has reached "cataclysmic proportions", according to administration.

"Most of the homes throughout Renfrew County are experiencing severe PSW shortages," says Kim Saunders, an administrator at Bonnechere. "The current state here at Bonnechere Manor, we currently have 16 vacant part time PSW positions."

Saunders says that due to the pandemic the desire to work in health care has flatlined - even with wage incentives. The County of Renfrew, which operates Bonnechere Manor and Miramichi Lodge in Pembroke, currently has an ongoing job listing for personal support workers showing at hourly rate between $26.15 and $26.51.

"Gone are the days of, yes, this is your first day," Saunders tells CTV News. "Now we celebrate each new staff member because they have become so hard to come by."

In order to recruit new PSWs, the manor has teamed up with Algonquin College in Pembroke, which offers a fast-tracked six-month PSW course. The long-term care home also has one classroom on-site where students come to acquire the hands-on skills needed to work with the elderly in order to transition from the classroom to the workplace.

One of those who graduated from the program back in June and has been working ever since is Megan Lariviere.

"I felt more eager [to enroll] because there's a shortage and I thought I could be of help," says the recently employed personal support worker. "I knew that there was a shortage. I knew that you were always going to have a job in health care whether it be PSW or nursing."

The program at the college in Pembroke holds 24 students. Saunders says, of an entire graduating class, about half stay and work at Renfrew County's long-term care homes.

"We just have such an increasing demand," says Keltie Jones, Dean at Algonquin College's Pembroke Campus. "We have an aging population in many parts of our province, so there's more and more demand for it."

Jones says the goal of the college is to get enough students through their programs to address staffing shortages in the community.

"We're really hoping that we're going to be able to expand the way we deliver this program to meet this really important need," says Jones.

Despite heading into a profession she knew was understaffed, Lariviere says she chose the career path because of her love for the elderly, and acknowledges there are days where the staffing shortage takes its toll.

"You still have to get the care done," says Lariviere. "So you work your butt off. It isn't an easy job but it's a very rewarding job."

Bonnechere Manor and Algonquin College are holding a virtual information session Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. for prospective students who may be interested in enrolling in the program. A link to the session will be available on the college's website (https://www.algonquincollege.com/pembroke/).

"We need them," says Saunders, appealing to new recruits. "So if there was ever a thought to join health care, now is the time."