The County of Essex is spending more money on staffing to improve patient care and financial reporting at the Sun Parlor Home in Leamington.
The hiring of a financial analyst has been approved by county council with the wage ranging from $49,635 – $58,694 a year.
County CAO Brian Gregg says the position is needed to keep up with increasing demands as the Sun Parlor Home has a staff of over 300 and an operating budget of about $25-million.
"So far we haven't dedicated sufficient financial resources to keep a real good day-to-day eye on the place," says Gregg. "We've used our own existing corporate resources to do that, but it's just getting more complex down there."
Furthermore, three new full-time positions have been approved while four part-time positions will be phased out in the Life Enrichment department.
Gregg says the restructuring will allow staff to better plan activities for the residents.
"Having folks come down to play bingo, to participate in bowling, being in a position to take folks out to some of the local merchants on a shopping day, to the mall or a hockey game, something like that," says Gregg.
The changes will mean an extra 940 staffing hours a year at the home.
"It's certainly a best practice that getting the residents up and moving about, getting engaged in activities certainly helps to control some of the responsive behaviours that they have," says Gregg.
The staff changes will lead to $31,000 in increased costs this year and $46,000 a year after that.
Gregg doesn't expect any layoffs to be needed as one of the four part-time positions is vacant and hopes to see the staffing adjustments made by the end of the month. However, the hiring of the financial analyst is expected to take longer.
