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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2012-10-31, Page 27• County to kick in funding for HealthKick Cheryl Heath Huron County Council is a step closer to committing to keeping HealthKick going thanks to a move that will see the county put $107,795 into the program's budget. During a presentation to 1uron County's Nov. 16 cotn- 'nlittee-of-the-whole session at the Huron County Health Unit's auditorium, project manager Laura Overholt asked for funding to ensure the unique program is able to continue operating within its multi -pronged mandate, which is strongly youth and training centred. While provincial funding through the REl) (Rural Eco- nomic Development) program helped sow the project's toots, Overholt said the program will now need some county sup- port to ensure it can begin the transition to a sustainable pro- gram that continues in its quest to mentor youth who are inter- ested in healthcare careers while working on other initia- tives, including developing courses designed to enhance the education of those already working in the field. Further, she said, Ilealth- Kick's unique initiative, MedQUIS1; a weeklong sum- mer camp which provides job shadowing in a variety of med- ical professions for high school students, is now seeing its first crop of students move through the post -secondary level. "We're very actively involved with the youth," noted Over- holt, who added priority goals for the coming years will include attempting to secure a post secondary trailing centre for the area and career explont- tion while continuing its role in training 20 Personal Support Workers, 16 Registered Practi- cal Nurses and 24 MedQ1)ESI' participants in 2012, HealthKick also won two ovincial awards and one federal award for health human resources innovation and economic development. While Overholt made it clear the $107,795 is the ask for the first of a three-year plan, she further asked that the county commit before December so that the pro- gram's staff can move for- ward with its priorities, During a question -and - answer session with council- lors, Coun. John Grace (Goderich) praised Health - Kick's efforts. "I look at this as a real eco- nomic development tool for Huron County," he said, noting finding a way to keep it sustainable is imperative. As several councillors, including Bill Siemon (Huron East) and 1)eb Shewfelt (Goderich) lauded the project, the committee agreed to include the funding request into its 2012 budget. During another presenta- tion to county councillors, county homes administrator Barb Springall reported work on a Homecare Human Resources Study recently wrapped up, and it shows Huron and Perth Counties will he facing critical staffing shortages in the healthcare field in the next 20 years, just as a significant portion of the population enters the 65 and up age category. "We're trying hard to recruits people," said Sprin- gall, who noted both nursing and Personal Support Worker positions remain unfilled, A key strategy as outlined in the report, said Springall, is a focus on finding way to train people who grew up here since they are the most likely to stay. Employee retention is another key issue, said Springall. "If we have them, we need to keep them." Lastly, said Springall, there has to be some sort of pro- gram introduced to formally acknowledge the work of the 1 lonles' nutny volunteers. "'They do many, many hours of work," she said, add- ing that a number of the limes' volunteers are as old, and older, as the seniors they are helping, Among the recommenda- tions formulated by the report is a request for the province to provide funding to allow for support staff for home directors who are facing an ever-increasing workload, "Directors of care will need support so they can manage the workload," said Springall, ".They are burning them out at an alarming rate. The prov- ince needs to recognize that's an issue." Another recommendation is to allow for Personal Support Workers to take on more tasks, Springall added the PSW field is a crucial one given that an estimated 30 per cent of them will he retiring in the next 10 years. 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