Amidst the substantial shortage of health care professionals across the country, Fleming College is aiming to expand opportunities for people to become personal support workers (PSWs) by bringing its PSW program to Lindsay this winter.
The college has announced the addition of the program to its Frost campus through the launch of a mobile laboratory, in a move it says will also “help expand health care in the City of Kawartha Lakes.”
The new mobile lab will train 64 potential PSWs, a media release from the college noted. Over the course of two semesters, students will receive 400 hours of theory and hands-on laboratory experience, combined with 300 hours of real-life training, aimed at preparing them for careers in the health care field.
The mobile or portable teaching laboratory will be set up in a physical space and most of the learning will occur in person, Chris Jardine, associate vice-president of marketing and advancement for Fleming College, said.
“It will allow students at our Frost campus in Lindsay to participate in the PSW certificate program without having to commute to our Sutherland campus in Peterborough,” Jardine told kawarthaNOW. “Fleming can support students through leading-edge experiential learning while bringing frontline health care support to Lindsay and its surrounding area.”
The mobile lab is equipped with portable beds, lifts, and state-of-the-art technology.
Fleming College president Maureen Adamson said in a statement that those students will offer health care support to the local community during their placements and upon graduation.
Having a mobile lab allows the college to deliver PSW training without the need to renovate a physical space. The college said the program curriculum is identical to the PSW program offered at Fleming’s Sutherland campus in Peterborough.
“I am thrilled to see Fleming College taking such a proactive approach in addressing the health care needs of our region,” said Laurie Scott, MPP, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, in the release.
“The introduction of this mobile PSW lab is a game-changer for our community, providing accessible and high-quality training right here in Lindsay. This initiative will not only equip our students with valuable skills, but it will ultimately enhance the overall health care services available locally.”
The mobile PSW program will be located at Fleming’s Frost campus in the winter of 2025, with the potential to expand to other communities within the region to provide localized training for aspiring PSWs, the release noted.
“This new, mobile PSW laboratory will provide PSWs in the City of Kawartha Lakes with the essential training and resources to deliver exceptional care and support to their local communities.”
In a Ministry of Long-Term Care document updated last month, the province said up to 24,000 new PSWs will be needed by 2026.
Meanwhile, a May 2024 story by Allison Jones of The Canadian Press stated Ontario will need tens of thousands of new nurses and PSWs by the year 2032.
Back in November 2023, the Ontario government announced it was investing more than $300 million over three years intended to help people launch careers as PSWs to work in long-term care homes and in the home and community care sector.
“PSWs play a critical role in helping people in Ontario connect to the care they need in the comfort of their own home and in their local community,” said Sylvia Jones, deputy premier and minister of health, in a media release.
“Bolstering our number of PSWs in the home care sector allows us to increase people’s access to in-home services which prevents unnecessary hospital and long-term care admissions, shortens hospital stays and provides people with the choice to stay in their own home longer.”
In part, the funding and recruitment of more PSWs are part of the province’s “Your Health plan” to connect long-term care residents to more hours of direct care and expand home care services, the government release noted.
