For Immediate Release

OHHCPA – OCSA Members Respond to SARS Challenge

April 3, 2003 - In the true spirit of health system collaboration, Ontario’s home and community care system is responding to the challenge of supporting hospitals and other facilities through the SARS outbreak. Dedicated home and community care workers - nurses, rehabilitation therapists, social workers and personal support workers - are providing care to thousands of clients in their homes. As hospitals ‘lock down’, thousands of community volunteers are providing meals, rides to physician appointments and other critical home support services to help those in need.

“Never has the need for home and community care services been more important and so visible”, stated OCSA President, Valerie Bishop de Young. Angela Morris, OHHCPA President, was clear, “Home is, for most people, the safest and preferred place of care. We are proud to be part of the first response to this crisis.” With their other primary care partners, the Community Care Access Centres, family physicians and community pharmacists, the Ontario home and community care system is very busy responding to thousands of daily calls from people accessing care in the home.

The Ontario Home Health Care Providers’ Association (OHHCPA) and the Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) collectively represent 60,000 home and community care workers and over 100,000 volunteers providing care in the home and community to over 1,000,000 Ontarians annually.

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For Further Information:

Sue VanderBent, Executive Director, Ontario Home Health Care Providers’ Association
19 Melrose Avenue South, Hamilton, Ontario L8M 2Y4
Tel: 905-543-9474, Fax: 905-545-1568
Email: suevan@ohhcpa.on.ca , Web Site: www.ohhcpa.on.ca

Joe McReynolds, CEO, Ontario Community Support Association
104 – 970 Lawrence Avenue West, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 3B6
Tel: 416-256-3010 ext. 224, Fax: 416-256-3021
Email: joem@ocsa.on.ca , Web Site: www.ocsa.on.ca