Some new provincial rules are taking effect to create more space in hospitals across Ontario during the third wave of COVID-19.
The province wants to encourage patients waiting for a long-term care bed to settle for a spot at a long-term care home that may not be their first choice.
Those patients are what’s called Alternate Level of Care or ALC, and normally pay a daily fee while waiting for a care home bed to open up.
The province says it is waiving those fees for ALC patients until they can be transferred to their home of choice.
Patients who accept these placements will keep their priority status on the wait list for their preferred home.
It’s also allowing fully-vaccinated long-term care home workers to go back to working at more than one facility. The practice of working at more than one care home was banned to stop the spread of COVID-19 between facilities.
