Yesterday at Halton Regional Council, a motion was passed that coincided with an announcement from the Provincial government.
Council approved a motion that would establish a dental clinic for Seniors in Halton Region.
This was a part of the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program.
Regional Councillor Mike Cluett had this to say about the established clinic.
There was also some disagreement between the Province and the Region. The Province has told the Region that they must use a clinic, while the Region feels that a fee service would be better.
One of the concerns was the cost of transportation for a single clinic within Halton.
Regional Councillor Mike Cluett expanded on it.
In response, to the concern of transportation, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, says the Region can ask for more funding.
“All public health units have also been given the opportunity to submit capital funding applications to the ministry for mobile dental buses and other dental infrastructure / clinics to further support client access as part of the program’s staged implementation approach. Additionally, under the OSDCP, public health units may also support the cost of client transportation to support effective service delivery based on local need.”
In addition, the Ministry says there will be options for transportation.
“The OSDCP will be delivered through a staged implementation approach, with service availability increasing over time as investments are made in new dental clinics and mobile dental buses across the province at Public Health Units (PHUs) and participating Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Aboriginal Health Access Centres (AHACs).”
Despite the difference of opinion, Councillor Cluett hopes that there will be enough funding for seniors regardless of approach.
The Halton Region has requested that just over $1.2 million be used for the implementation of the program.
The funding for the program comes from the Tax Capital General Reserve until the Ministry of Health provides the funding.
Ontarians aged 65 and over with an income of $19,300 or less, or couples with a combined annual income of $32,300 or less, who do not have dental benefits, will qualify for the program.
