Upcoming provincial cuts to long-term care funding will leave the city's two homes short more than $550,000 a year.

"We just don't have any other places to find it," Paul Johnson, general manager of healthy and safe communities, said at the city's Emergency and Community Services Committee meeting Thursday. "Quite frankly, I would prefer to have increases to bring more staff on."

All long-term care homes in the province will be affected, but municipally-run homes like Hamilton's Macassa Lodge and Wentworth Lodge are anticipated to be hit hardest.

The committee unanimously agreed Thursday to ask the mayor to press the ministry of long-term care and Donna Skelly, MPP for Flamborough — Glanbrook to abandon the cuts that are supposed to come into effect Oct 1.

"I want to believe she is either not aware of this or not aware of the potential negative impact," Councillor Tom Jackson said about Skelly, as he put forward the motion.

Skelly said she was unavailable to be interviewed when contacted Thursday by The Spectator.

"No one from the city has reached out to me regarding this matter," she said in a text.

The province has already delayed the cuts once, which were supposed to take place Aug. 1.

"This will allow for more sufficient time for long-term care operators to make the required adjustments and if there are any potential gaps affecting the quality of care for patients, they can be addressed," said Minister of Long Term Care Merrilee Fullerton in a statement.

Essentially two programs are ending — one that gave renovation money to homes to meet current standards and another that helped maintain staffing levels and a living wage.

"Those are important little pieces of funding that have been there for at least 20 years," said Johnson, who vowed Hamilton will keep its current staffing and service levels at least until the next budget.

As a result, losing those two programs will leave Hamilton's two homes with a combined $138,630 deficit for the remainder of this year and a $554,530 annual shortfall the next year.

It comes on the heels of a 1.7 per cent budget increase that was below inflation and historical averages, so cost-cutting would already have been required to balance the books. Resident co-payment fees are also increasing by 2.3 per cent.

"What it is going to mean is that a system already in crisis is going to get worse," said NDP leader Andrea Horwath. "Whether it's patient on patient violence, unidentified injuries or falls, people who are left for hours without any human contact and soiled diapers."

Homes are already struggling to deal with the rising acuity of residents, said Holly Odoardi, senior administrator of the city lodges.

"Care needs are definitely increasing, but we're not having the funding to support the care the residents require or the staffing supports."

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