Engaging with Fairmount Home

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The number one priority for staff at Frontenac County’s long-term care home (LTCH), Fairmount Home, remains the health and wellbeing of residents.

Staff and administrators at LTCHs across the country have been advocating for more resources and regulation for LTCHs for more than 20 years. In 2017, with the support of Frontenac County Council and in partnership with Hastings County Council, Fairmount Home staff began work toward achieving the reasonable goal of providing and measuring four hours of care per resident per day. Fairmount staff and Frontenac County Council have made some very strong progress to that end and have advocated at every opportunity that others join in doing the same. In November of 2020, with almost 4,000 recorded COVID-19 deaths among LTCH residents in the province, the Ontario Government announced a similar commitment to all Ontario LTCH residents. The goal is scheduled for achievement before 2025.

Not all LTCHs are created equal. Some are licensed, funded, and run entirely by private enterprise; some are managed by non-profit organizations; and some — like Fairmount Home — are municipally operated. Only about 15 percent of LTCHs across the province are operated by municipalities while more than 70 percent of people waiting for LTCH spaces say they would prefer to find a room in a municipally operated home to any other type. Why? Municipal homes, like Fairmount, tend to enjoy the more transparent and regulated oversight implicit in taxpayer-funded organizations. Financial shortfalls in municipal LTCHs are more likely to be covered with funds from other lines of the municipal budget. Municipal homes also tend to have higher wages for staff, higher quality of care numbers for residents, and newer facilities and equipment.

Still — even with shortcomings of long-term care thrown into sharp and public relief by the effects of the pandemic — our growing and aging population and insufficient attention to LTCH issues at the provincial level over the last decades conspire to ensure that demand for long-term care will continue to rise. We need to be prepared for that.

That’s where you come in. You will find on this page resources and background information you can use to learn more about issues in long-term care across the country. You can review many reports on LTCH dated as recently as this summer and stretching back more than 20 years. You can read about some of the programs and guidance available to families who are considering long-term care. You can familiarize yourself with the advocacy work of groups including the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, the Association of Municipalities Ontario, and the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. Finally, you can use the tools at the bottom of this page to discuss the issues with your neighbours, to ask questions about Fairmount Home and long-term care, and to share your ideas about how you think Fairmount ought to be funded and managed into the future.

All your input will be forwarded to Fairmount Home staff and Frontenac County Council for Frontenac County budget deliberations and other considerations.

Our most vulnerable neighbours — mothers, fathers, grandparents, extended family, and friends — turn to long-term care when it’s no longer possible for them to live in the safety or comfort of their own homes. They charge and trust us to make a real home for them at Fairmount even as their health and faculties decline. They need us to provide for and safeguard their dignity. Many choose Fairmount as their final home. We need your help and input to do right by them.

The number one priority for staff at Frontenac County’s long-term care home (LTCH), Fairmount Home, remains the health and wellbeing of residents.

Staff and administrators at LTCHs across the country have been advocating for more resources and regulation for LTCHs for more than 20 years. In 2017, with the support of Frontenac County Council and in partnership with Hastings County Council, Fairmount Home staff began work toward achieving the reasonable goal of providing and measuring four hours of care per resident per day. Fairmount staff and Frontenac County Council have made some very strong progress to that end and have advocated at every opportunity that others join in doing the same. In November of 2020, with almost 4,000 recorded COVID-19 deaths among LTCH residents in the province, the Ontario Government announced a similar commitment to all Ontario LTCH residents. The goal is scheduled for achievement before 2025.

Not all LTCHs are created equal. Some are licensed, funded, and run entirely by private enterprise; some are managed by non-profit organizations; and some — like Fairmount Home — are municipally operated. Only about 15 percent of LTCHs across the province are operated by municipalities while more than 70 percent of people waiting for LTCH spaces say they would prefer to find a room in a municipally operated home to any other type. Why? Municipal homes, like Fairmount, tend to enjoy the more transparent and regulated oversight implicit in taxpayer-funded organizations. Financial shortfalls in municipal LTCHs are more likely to be covered with funds from other lines of the municipal budget. Municipal homes also tend to have higher wages for staff, higher quality of care numbers for residents, and newer facilities and equipment.

Still — even with shortcomings of long-term care thrown into sharp and public relief by the effects of the pandemic — our growing and aging population and insufficient attention to LTCH issues at the provincial level over the last decades conspire to ensure that demand for long-term care will continue to rise. We need to be prepared for that.

That’s where you come in. You will find on this page resources and background information you can use to learn more about issues in long-term care across the country. You can review many reports on LTCH dated as recently as this summer and stretching back more than 20 years. You can read about some of the programs and guidance available to families who are considering long-term care. You can familiarize yourself with the advocacy work of groups including the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, the Association of Municipalities Ontario, and the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. Finally, you can use the tools at the bottom of this page to discuss the issues with your neighbours, to ask questions about Fairmount Home and long-term care, and to share your ideas about how you think Fairmount ought to be funded and managed into the future.

All your input will be forwarded to Fairmount Home staff and Frontenac County Council for Frontenac County budget deliberations and other considerations.

Our most vulnerable neighbours — mothers, fathers, grandparents, extended family, and friends — turn to long-term care when it’s no longer possible for them to live in the safety or comfort of their own homes. They charge and trust us to make a real home for them at Fairmount even as their health and faculties decline. They need us to provide for and safeguard their dignity. Many choose Fairmount as their final home. We need your help and input to do right by them.

  • December Grapevine Gazette

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  • December Activity Calendar

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  • Fairmount nursing professionals progress on RNAO Best Practice Spotlight Organization designation journey

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    The foundational work toward Fairmount’s Registered Nurses Association of Ontario Best Practice Spotlight Organization designation is underway and proceeding as planned.

    So far, Fairmount RPN Tammy McConnell presented on wound care and healing during a BPSO virtual Learning Circle event, August 13. Fairmount’s Wound Care Committee have already recommended a pressure injury risk assessment for all residents on admission. Fairmount’s Director of Resident Care Emily Shoniker, and Assistant Director of Care Payton Hunt attended an RNAO Clinical Pathways launch event, September 11. And the Fairmount nursing team have already surpassed their RNAO Best Practice Champions Network training target for the year.Tammy McConnell RPN, Frontenac County Deputy Warden Ron Vandewal, Fairmount Administrator Susan Brant, Director of Resident Care Emily Shoniker, Fairmount resident Alison Ahara, Rebecca McEwen RN(EC), MPP John Jordan, and Anna Campbell RN (EC) launch the Fairmount Home RANO BPSO pre-designation journey, June 18. McConnell and RN Erika Van Schelven are scheduled to attend RNAO’s Clinical BPG Institute October 27-29. Fairmount BPSO co-leads Rebecca McEwen and Anna Campbell are scheduled to present on engagement strategies and public visibility at the RNAO Knowledge Exchange Symposium on November 12. And Fairmount will be applying to the RNAO Advanced Clinical Practice Fellowship program and submitting a manuscript for publication.

    Fairmount Home's BPSO co-leads and nurse practitioners Anna Campbell and Rebecca McEwen are scheduled to present at the RNAO Knowledge Symposium, November 12. A central part of earning BPSO designation is investment in and commitment to a culture of evidence-based decision making. That means making new and deliberate measurements of the care Fairmount nursing professionals provide to residents, then measuring how that care impacts residents’ health and wellbeing. It also makes comparison among other BPSOs much more practical and accurate. The process involves collecting hard data and distilling it into useful information Fairmount nurses can then use to identify ways to provide the best possible care to each resident.

    So, much of the BPSO work over the spring and summer here at Fairmount is focused on establishing a solid baseline measure of current practices. It’s the starting point from which to measure change. Data collection continues apace in each of Fairmount’s initial primary focus areas: person and family centered care, transitions in care and services, and assessment and management of pressure injuries.
    Fairmount Home Director of Care Emily Shoniker and Assistant Director of Care (IPC) Payton Hunt attended an RNAO Clinical Pathways launch, September 11..

    Next, Fairmount plans to implement RNAO Clinical Pathways and PointClickCare's Nursing Advantage Canada electronic healthcare system. This an RNAO-guided effort that includes the implementation of evidence-based guidelines for improving care and efficiency, and a new system for organizing, measuring, and standardizing resident care plans for each resident's specific clinical issues or procedures. The first implimentation phase for Clinical Pathways is scheduled for March, 2025.

    Check this space regularly for updates and new information as it becomes available.

    Click here to learn more about RNAO BPSO designation.
    Click here to read about RNAO BPSO designation at Fairmount Home.
    Click here to read about the June 18 Fairmount Home BPSO launch event.
    Click here to visit Engaging with Fairmount Home.

  • October 2024 Grapevine Gazette

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  • October Activity Calendar

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  • Fairmount Home earns RNAO BPSO pre-designation

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    Fairmount Home has been selected by the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) as a long-term care Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) pre-designate.

    Fairmount Nursing professionals Rebecca McEwen, Emily Shoniker, Tammy McConnel, and Anna Campbell represent Fairmount’s BPSO steering committee and are attending a BPSO orientation and launch event in Toronto, April 24.

  • Eastern Ontario Warden's Caucus advocates for expanded support in long-term care

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    The Eastern Ontario Warden's Caucus (EOWC) advocates for government investment in municipal long-term care homes, improved staffing, and care of residents. Member municipalities have identified four key priorities in long-term care for the coming year:

    • That the Province provide funding to offset premiums that municipalities are required to pay for private staffing-agency workers
    • That the Province fund temporary foreign workers to fill the human resources gap in rural long-term care homes
    • That the Province reinstate the Construction Funding Subsidy (CFS) that ended in August of 2023 to help municipalities build and reinvest in long-term care homes
    • That the Province implement a low-interest loan program to assist municipalities with the capital redevelopment and expansion of long-term care homes, and that these loans apply to homes that are both under construction and yet to be built

    EOWC delegates delivered that message to Provincial leaders at the recent Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) Conference in Toronto, January 21. And submitted it as part of the 2024 Province of Ontario Budget Consultation, January 31.

    Click here to read the EOWC ROMA Conference briefing package
    Click here to read to the 2024 Ontario Pre-Budget Consultation submission
    Click here to visit the EOWC long-term care advocacy page

    At the ROMA Conference in Toronto, Jan 21-23: MPP Stephane Sarrazin, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell; MPP Laurie Scott, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock; Warden Jamie MacDonald, United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry; EOWC Vice-Chair, Bonnie Clark, Peterborough County; Minister Kinga Surma, Ministry of Infrastructure; MPP John Yakabuski, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke; Chair Peter Emon, Renfrew County; Warden Pierre Leroux, United Counties of Prescott & Russell; MPP John Jordan, Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston; MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough-Kawartha; Warden Brian Ostrander, Northumberland County.

  • STRATEGIC PLAN: Options for the future of Fairmount Home

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    Fairmount Home Administrator Susan Brant presented a series of initial options for the future of Fairmount Home to Frontenac County Council at a Council strategic planning working group session on October 18, 2023.

    The home portion of the Fairmount Home building was completed in 1968 and can accommodate 128 resident beds. Administrator Brant described four possible options for the future of Fairmount Home.

    1. Plan to do nothing. Complete a building assessment and adjust reserve payment calculations accordingly. Maintain 128 resident beds.
    2. Remain at the current site but modernize the existing building to improve infection prevention/control and resident comfort.
    3. Remain at the current site but modernize the existing building as in option two, and expand to add an additional 32 resident beds for a total of 160 beds.
    4. Build a new 160-bed Fairmount Home building on Frontenac County campus near the existing building and repurpose the existing building.

    It's important to note that these options are merely a starting point for Council discussion and consideration, and that strategic choices related to Fairmount Home will likely inform strategic decisions pertaining to Frontenac Paramedics. Click here to learn about Frontenac Paramedics.

    Council voted to gather more information related to costs with the City of Kingston with an eye to exploring more about option three for Fairmount Home: Modernize the current site and add 32 beds for a total of 160 beds.

    Next steps to come in due course after staff reports back to Council.

    Watch video of Administrator Brant's presentation below for more detail, cost implications, and Council discussion.

    And watch Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender introduce the Fairmount and Frontenac Paramedics strategic plan proposals. . . .


  • Fairmount Home earns three-year CARF accreditation

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    The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), an international accreditor of health and human services, has awarded Fairmount Home staff top marks after this year’s consultative accreditation process.

    “Accreditation is a team effort among staff, volunteers, residents, families, and management,” says Fairmount Home Administrator, Susan Brant. “It’s only by working together that we continue to be a home of choice for our residents, staff, and volunteers. I want to thank everyone for their contributions to the success of this important process.”

    CARF accreditation represents objective, expert assurance that Fairmount staff demonstrate conformance with internationally accepted standards for care. It’s one example of the work Fairmount staff does to assure residents, resident families, volunteers, health care partners, and the community that Fairmount meets the highest standard for quality of care.

    There are three tiers of CARF accreditation: provisional, one-year, and three-year. Fairmount staff earned the highest of those, three-year accreditation. The rigorous accreditation process can take a year or more to complete and includes a self-evaluation component, detailed reporting on conformance to CARF standards, and a detailed site survey of the home by a CARF survey team.

    “It is apparent that Fairmont Home provides excellent person-centred care to its residents and families,” reads the CARF accreditation report. “. . . Fairmont Home demonstrates a commitment to using the CARF standards to the benefit of residents, families, and employees. Both families and residents expressed a high level of satisfaction with the organization and the services provided.”


    Click here to learn more about accreditation at Fairmount and to see the complete CARF Accreditation Report and Benchmarking Data Graphs.

    Click here to learn more about The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).

  • Ontario Expanding Personal Support Worker Training Program in Long-Term Care

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    Training hundreds of additional personal support workers will connect residents to more hours of direct care.

    QUEEN'S PARK — The Ontario government is investing $16.5 million to train up to 600 new personal support workers across the province as part of its commitment to ensure long-term care residents receive an average of four hours of hands-on direct care each day by 2025. The Learn and Earn Accelerated Program for Personal Support Workers in Long-Term Care (LEAP LTC) is an online program in partnership with Humber College that accelerates the training of existing long-term care staff, such as resident attendants and dietary aides, to become personal support workers.


Page last updated: 11 Dec 2024, 10:44 AM