January 24, 2000

BUDGET ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

The Policy and Finance Committee at its meeting on January 20, 2000, had before it a communication (January 13, 2000), from the City Clerk, advising that the Community Services Committee on January 13, 2000, recommended to the Policy and Finance Committee the adoption of the joint report (December 29, 1999) from the Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services and the Medical Officer of Health requesting an interim appropriation for the Retirement and Lodging Homes Hotline and Inspection, wherein it is recommended that:

(1) the amount of up to $149,347.00 be pre-approved and added to the Public Health Operating Budget for the year 2000, to enable the division to continue to operate the Retirement and Lodging Homes hotline and inspections from January 1, 2000 to March 31, 2000;

(2) this report be forwarded to the Policy and Finance Committee for their consideration, and to the Budget Advisory Committee administrator for the budget process pending file, in accordance with the Financial Control Protocols adopted by Council;

(3) the report be forwarded to the Board of Health for information; and

(4) the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

The Policy and Finance Committee referred the aforementioned communication to the Budget Advisory Committee for consideration and report thereon to the Policy and Finance Committee.

City Clerk

P. A. Morris/bas

Item No. 22

Attachment

Sent to: Budget Advisory Committee

c: Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services

Medical Officer of Health

January 13, 2000

To: Policy and Finance Committee

From: City Clerk

Subject: Interim Appropriation for Retirement and

Lodging Homes Hotline and Inspection

Recommendation:

The Community Services Committee on January 13, 2000, recommended to the Policy and Finance Committee the adoption of the attached joint report (December 29, 1999) from the Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services and the Medical Officer of Health requesting an interim appropriation for the Retirement and Lodging Homes Hotline and Inspection.

City Clerk

R. Dyers/tl

Item No. 15

(Joint report dated December 29, 1999, addressed to the

Community Services Committee from the

Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services

and the Medical Officer of Health)

Purpose:

This report requests pre-approval of up to $149,317.00 in the year 2000 Operating Budget for Public Health inspections of retirement and lodging homes and to operate the Retirement and Lodging Homes complaints hotline.

Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

The amount of up to $149,347.00 will be required to continue to operate the retirement and lodging homes hotline and inspections from January 1, 2000 to March 31, 2000. The Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health and the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services, will report through the 2000 budget process on any additional resources required to continue this service in compliance with Council directives.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and concurs with the financial impact statement.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) the amount of up to $149,347.00 be pre-approved and added to the Public Health Operating Budget for the year 2000, to enable the division to continue to operate the Retirement and Lodging Homes hotline and inspections from January 1, 2000 to March 31, 2000;

(2) this report be forwarded to Policy and Finance Committee for their consideration, and to the Budget Advisory Committee administrator for the budget process pending file, in accordance with the Financial Control Protocols adopted by Council;

(3) this report be forwarded to the Board of Health for information; and

(4) the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Background:

At its meeting on September 28 and 29, 1999, City Council directed that an amount of $527,500.00 be allocated for operating the Retirement and Lodging Homes hotline and inspections as a short term solution, with $250,000.00 to be reallocated from 1999 under expenditures and the remainder to be considered for pre-approval in the year 2000 Operating Budget, subject to a further report from the Interdepartmental Working Group.

This report requests that up to $149,317.00 be pre-approved for the 2000 Operating Budget for Public Health to cover the costs of operating the Retirement and Lodging Homes hotline and inspections from January 1, 2000 to March 31, 2000, to ensure continuity of service until a final determination is made by City Council as to whether or not this service should continue.

Comments:

The Retirement and Lodging Homes Advisory Committee at its December 17, 1999, meeting recommended continuation of the Retirement and Lodging Homes Action Team and hotline as effective tools for enforcement in those facilities most in need of regulatory oversight. (See report "Standards of Care in Retirement and Lodging Homes" tabled at this meeting.) This recommendation was previously developed and endorsed by the interdepartmental working group, and supported by members of the community who participated in the consultation. The Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health and the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services, will report through the 2000 budget process on any additional resources required to continue this service and implement Council's recommendations regarding unregulated retirement and lodging homes.

The total budget for this service for three months from October 1999 to December 1999 was $172,354.00. In accordance with Council's directive, this was absorbed in Public Health's approved 1999 Operating Budget. This includes eight inspectors; staffing the hotline and inspections on a rotating basis; an administration clerk; plus one manager; staff travel and basic overhead expenses. There are no additional rental costs for this service. (The Retirement Homes Action Team staff are housed in a for-sale city-owned building; should the premises be sold, rent will become an additional cost.) Since there was considerable media coverage on this issue during that time, there were no promotion or advertising costs. It is recommended, however, that there be paid advertising to promote this service in January 2000 at a cost of $10,325.00 to ensure that adequate public awareness of this service continues. In addition, now that the system has been established and the number of calls to the hotline has dropped off, this service can be operated from January 1 to March 31, 2000, with six inspectors (rotating between operating the hotline and facility inspection), one administrative clerk and a manager. This means that a total of up to $149,317.00 will be required to continue this service for the first quarter of 2000.

Conclusions:

The Retirement and Lodging Homes Advisory Committee has recommended the continuation of the Retirement and Lodging Homes hotline and follow-up inspections as an effective tool for enforcement in those facilities most in need of regulatory oversight. In order to ensure continuity of service from January through March 2000, an interim appropriation of up to $149,317.00 is required for the Public Health year 2000 Operating Budget.

Contact:

Dr. Monir Taha

Director, Healthy Environments and AMOH

Toronto Public Health

Tel: (416) 392-1356/Fax: (416) 392-0713