CTVNews.ca, Karolyn Coorsh, (Mar 16, 2013)

Tamara Daly, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research chair and an associate professor of Health at York University, said government should be addressing staffing levels at long-term care facilities, where workers are few and still overburdened by paperwork and government red tape.

“It’s not simply that we need more beds; we need better staffing to make sure that once people are in facilities that the care is good quality,” Daly said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca.

Daly said there are fewer staff today in long-term care facilities than there were 10 to 15 years ago.

“You have fewer staff, you have higher care needs and you have more paperwork,” Daly said. “So you kind of have a perfect storm.”

Daly said as demand increases, the public long-term care system will end up being reserved for those most in need, while those who can afford it will turn to the private, for-profit retirement homes.