People should be able to access timely and appropriate health care services to achieve the best possible health outcomes.
Everyone who needs long-term care should have enough choice when selecting a home, and be admitted to a home of their choice within a reasonable timeframe at an affordable cost. Resident-placement processes should be sensitive to individual health needs, as well as personal preferences, including ethnic, religious, spiritual, linguistic, familial and cultural factors.
Health Quality Ontario reports on one quality indicator for the accessibility of long-term care: wait times. To learn more, click on the “Wait Times” tab above.
Median number of days
to long-term care
home placement
2013/14 provincial median:
108 days
2012/13 provincial median:
99 days
Wait Times
This indicator shows the median number of days that people in Ontario waited to be placed into a long-term care home from the time they first applied for a placement. The median number of days is the timeframe during which half the people were placed in a long-term care home from the time they applied for long-term care.
When people wait a long time at home for placement in a long-term care home, their health may worsen, which can lead to additional stress on them and their caregivers. Many people also wait for long-term care after being hospitalized, which puts them at a higher risk of problems such as infections or functional decline, and can also impact hospitals’ ability to deliver regular services such as emergency care or elective surgeries.