Due to a currently high demand for Personal Support Worker (PSW), Education and Health Care Facilities are working together to help tackle the shortage. The Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) and other partners are working together to fund 200 bursaries, valued at a total of 1-million dollars that will be offered to students enrolling in PSW programs at 4 colleges, including Fanshawe, Conestoga, Georgian and Lambton.
Fanshawe College will receive $500,000 to help students in financial need cover the costs of taking the PSW certificate program. Students who begin their full-time studies in January 2020 will be eligible to apply for the many bursaries now available. Fanshawe College currently offers an 8-month PSW certificate program at each of its 6 campuses, including the St. Thomas Regional Campus.
In addition to the funding, three organizations including the Victorian Order of Nurses, CarePartners and OneCare have committed to hiring 165 PSW students and paying for their in-school training and work term placements in 8 counties including Elgin and Middlesex.
The demand for new PSW’s is high as the South West LHIN’s Home Care program alone provides approximately 30,000 PSW visits to over 6,000 patients in it’s counties every single week.
