Long-Term Care / Chronic Care Reports & Analysis

UPDATE: Submission to Ministry of Long-Term Care Public Consultation on New License & Expansion for Southbridge Care Homes Orchard Villa

(October 21, 2022) Submission to Ministry of Long-Term Care Public Consultation on New License & Expansion for Southbridge Care Homes Orchard Villa To:       The Director under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 Ministry of Long-Term Care Capital Planning Branch 438 University Avenue, 8th Floor Toronto, Ontario M5G 2K8 Via email: LTCHomes.Licensing@ontario.ca From:   Ontario Health Coalition Re:       PROJECT #23-034 Orchard Villa […]

LETTER & RELEASE: “Rife with discrimination against the elderly,” Bill 7 prompts advocates to escalate call for Human Rights Commission investigation into systemic ageism in Ontario health policy

(August 31, 2022) Toronto, ON – At a press conference held today, the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE), and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced they are escalating their call for the Ontario Human Rights Commission to launch a formal inquiry into systemic discrimination in the provision […]

REPORT: Crisis Unabated: The Failure to Improve Dangerously Low Care Levels in Ontario’s Long-Term Care Homes

(May 18, 2022) Click here for printable version of report found below. Summary of Findings After enormous public pressure, the Ford government committed to improving care levels in Ontario’s long-term care homes. Even though residents were dying literally by the thousands in the pandemic, the plan which is very simple and could have been forged […]

SUBMISSION: Submission to the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly on Bill 37

(November 29, 2021) Introduction   When assessing this legislation, which is not new, but rather a set of amendments to the existing Act, the images of the people who have suffered so egregiously in long-term care have haunted our thoughts: Diane Colangelo, who shakes and weeps as she describes her mom who weighed, she said, […]

REPORT: Public Money, Private Profit: The Ford Government & the Privatization of the Next Generation of Ontario’s Long-Term Care

(November 29, 2021) Click here for the full report with a list of all the new bed licenses. A summary of the report can be found below. ——- Introduction & Key Findings After watching horror-struck as among the worst death rates in the world devastated Ontario’s long-homes during the pandemic, Ontarians were promised fundamental change. […]

RELEASE & ANALYSIS: Health Coalition Quick Initial Analysis of the Ford Government’s New LTC Act

(October 28, 2021) Toronto – The Ford government has gone to extreme lengths to brand this as a new LTC Act. It is not a new Act. It is almost clause by clause the existing Act. What improvements that could have and should have happened are far more than the changes that they have made. […]

RELEASE: Coalition Responds to Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips’ Announcement Cutting Through the PR: No Commitment to Reinstate Annual Comprehensive Inspections

(October 26, 2021) Toronto – It has been a year-and-a-half since CBC exposed that the Ford government cancelled the annual surprise inspections of long-term care homes after it took office in 2018 and 17 months since Premier Ford promised to reinstate those comprehensive inspections. Yet today’s announcement from the Ford government’s Long-Term Care Minister Rod […]

REPORT: Long-Term Care Survey Report Released by Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition, Northumberland Health Coalition, and the Peterborough Health Coalition

(June 22, 2021) Introduction We are here to discuss the problems in Long Term care because of an anonymous survey completed by front-line workers within Long-Term Care workplaces in Kawartha Lakes-Peterborough-Northumberland regions. Long-Term Care Homes is the term now used for nursing homes, charitable homes, and municipal homes for the aged. We are not talking […]

REPORT: Investing in Care, Not Profit: Recommendations to Transform Long-Term Care in Ontario

(May 20, 2021) A summary of the report and the list of recommendations can be found below. Click here for the full report. Click here for media release. **A group of nine eminent policy experts are weighing in today on one of the most urgent policy debates in our province and our country. They are calling […]

ALL REPORTS: Ontario Health Coalition’s Response to the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission

(April 29, 2021) Please find below links to various materials the Ontario Health Coalition has produced when it comes to the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission. Ontario Health Coalition Reports to the Commission Our final report to the Commission (February 16, 2021) Our interim report to the Commission (December 17, 2020) Ontario Health Coalition responses to […]

REPORT: Briefing Report: Investigating Real Registered Nurse Staffing Levels in Ontario’s Long-Term Care Homes

(April 7, 2021) While acuity levels in Ontario’s LTC homes have risen for decades, daily hands-on care levels have been generally static and even have declined over the last 14 years. Shortages of daily hands-on care staff, including RNs and PSWs were significant and problematic before the pandemic, but have worsened through the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

RELEASE, BRIEFING NOTE & LEGAL OPINION: Advocates Representing More Than 1 Million Canadians Call For National Standards to Improve Quality, Accountability and Take Profit Out of Long-Term Care

(March 22, 2021) Click here for the legal opinion on national standards. The media release and briefing note can be found below. Legal Opinion on National Standards Media Release Ottawa/Across Canada – Today, advocates representing more than a million Canadians came together to demand that the federal government and provinces work together to establish national […]

LETTER & EVENTS: Call for Human Rights Inquiry Into Systemic Discrimination Against the Elderly in Ontario Hospitals and Long-Term Care

(March 16, 2021) Click here for a link to the letter to the Ontario Human Rights Commissioner. The Ontario Health Coalition, the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly & CUPE/OCHU are calling on the Ontario Human Rights Commissioner to conduct a formal Inquiry into the human rights discrimination against the elderly in access to and levels […]

REPORT: Tracking the Spread of COVID-19: Large Outbreaks in Health Care Settings Summary & Report: Over Two Thousand Dead in Long-Term Care as We Approach End of Wave 2 – Data updated to March 3

(March 12, 2021) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below.                   Analysis: Status of Current Large Health Care Outbreaks Since our last update February 9 and as measured […]

REPORT: Tracking the Spread of COVID-19: Large Outbreaks in Health Care Settings Summary & Report: Second Wave in Long-Term Care Infections & Deaths have Surpassed First Wave – Data updated to February 9

(February 17, 2021) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below.           Analysis: Status of Current Large Health Care Outbreaks Since our last update January 19, the large outbreaks (as defined by >10 […]

REPORT: Shocking Number of Long-Term Care Homes with Majority of Residents Infected – Data updated to January 19

(January 22, 2021) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below. Having become alarmed at how many long-term care homes have COVID-19 outbreaks that are out of control in which a significant proportion of the residents have […]

REPORT: Wave 2 Continues to Devastate Long-Term Care, Far Surpassing the 1st Wave – Data updated to January 19

(January 22, 2021) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below.                           The second wave of COVID-19 in Ontario’s long-term care homes has now far […]

REPORT: Tracking the Spread of COVID-19: Sharp escalation in large COVID-19 outbreaks in health care settings – Data updated to January 8

(January 11, 2021) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below.             The second wave of COVID-19 in Ontario’s long-term care homes has now almost reached the peak numbers that were experienced […]

REPORT: COVID-19 Second Wave Survey of Staff in Long-Term Care Homes with Large Outbreaks

(December 18, 2020) The Ontario Health Coalition had been conducting surveys of front-line staff in homes with large outbreaks (more than 10 staff and/or residents infected) across Ontario from mid-November to December of 2020. We have collected 88 surveys filled in by long-term care staff who work in dozens of different long-term care homes that […]

REPORT: A Call to Conscience: The COVID-19 Crisis in Ontario’s Long-Term Care Homes, What is Needed & the Government’s Response

(December 17, 2020) Click here for printable version of the report found below. ————– Mission and Mandate Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system.  We work to honour and strengthen the principles of the Canada Health Act. We are led by our shared commitment to core values of equality, […]

REPORT: Tracking the Spread of COVID-19: Sharp escalation in large COVID-19 outbreaks in health care settings – Data updated to December 1

(December 3, 2020) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below. As measured by the number of large outbreaks in which the spread of COVID-19 has not been limited to less than 10 people, the numbers are […]

REPORT: Tracking the Spread of COVID-19: COVID Numbers in Health Care Outbreaks Escalating Dramatically – Data Updated to November 17

(November 19, 2020) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report found below. Total long-term care outbreaks: 100 Large outbreaks (including more that 10 residents/patients/staff): 10 RH, 34 LTC, 5 hospitals with 10 outbreaks.   As of November 18 there are 100 active outbreaks in Ontario’s long-term care homes, up from 76 […]

INTEGRITY COMPLAINT: Health Coalition Requests Integrity Commissioner Investigate Political Donations & High-Level Personnel Links Between For-Profit LTC Industry and Ford Government Prior to Passage of Legal Liability Bil

(November 16, 2020) Today, the Ontario Health Coalition submitted a complaint to the Integrity Commissioner to investigate political donations and high-level personnel links between the for-profit long-term care industry and key ministers & MPPs in the Ford Government prior to the passage of Bill 218, which indemnifies for-profit long-term care homes from liability for negligence […]

REPORT & RELEASE: Ontario Is Experiencing Exponential Growth of COVID-19 Cases In Long-Term Care – OHC’s Roundup of Most Recent Case Numbers

(November 10, 2020)  Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report found below. ———- Toronto – COVID-19 is spreading and the Ontario Health Coalition is warning that there is exponential growth in positive cases in long-term care homes in particular. There are also large outbreaks in a number of hospitals and retirement […]

SUBMISSION: Submission to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy on Bill 218

(November 4, 2020) Bill 218 submissions from the Ontario Health Coalition, the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly and Will Davidson LLP, media releases from the 3 organizations and a chart containing connections between the Conservative Party and the long-term care lobby industry can all be found at the end of this post. Mission and Mandate […]

REPORT: Tracking of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Health Care Settings – Data Updated to October 28

(November 3, 2020) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below. ————– Introduction Each number included in this tracking data represents a human being who is loved and who has experienced the terrible toll of COVID-19: staff […]

RELEASE & ANALYSIS: Health Coalition Calls for Government to Flow Urgently Needed Money to Hospitals and Long-Term Care; Staffing Announcements Far Less Than Other Provinces

(October 2, 2020) Toronto – Over the last week, the Ford government has rolled out a series of media announcements about health care funding and staffing. Today the Ontario Health Coalition issued the following statement to break down what has been announced, what it means, and whether it is enough. “Hospitals are reporting across Ontario […]

RELEASE & REPORT: Rate of Increase in COVID-19 among Staff, Residents, and Patients in Ontario’s Health Care Settings More Than Doubled: Coalition Fears Second Wave in Long-Term Care

(September 23, 2020) Toronto- The Ontario Health Coalition released its most recent report detailing the COVID-19 outbreaks it has tracked from reliable sources in health care settings since the beginning of the pandemic. The OHC has tracked 90 currently active outbreaks, 33 of which started from the end of August. Ottawa has 11 outbreaks in […]

FACT SHEET: Fact Sheet on Revera Inc. For-Profit Long-Term Care & Retirement Home Chain Owner

(September 16, 2020) October 3 Update: Information on what action can be taken to end for-profit long-term care and what you can do to help make Revera public, along with follow up to a virtual town hall meeting that took place on September 16, can be found below the fact sheet. Revera Fact Sheet Who […]

RELEASE & REPORT: Ford Government Must Be Transparent About COVID-19 Outbreaks, Improve Public Access to Information: Health Coalition Releases Updated Reports on Outbreaks in Health & Non-Health Sectors

(September 9, 2020) Toronto – The Ontario Health Coalition, which has been tracking COVID-19 outbreaks since the beginning of the pandemic, released two new reports today tracking the trends in outbreaks to the end of August in health care settings and in non-health care industries. The Coalition has highlighted in each report the information that […]

REPORT: Tracking of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Health Care Settings – Data Updated to July 13

(July 23, 2020) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below. —- Introduction Each number included in this tracking data represents a human being who is loved and who has experienced the terrible toll of COVID-19: staff […]

RELEASE & REPORT: 95% of Ontario Long-Term Care Staff Report Staffing Shortages Leaving Basic Care Needs Unmet: Health Coalition Releases Staffing Survey Calling for Ford Government to Take Action

(July 22, 2020) Toronto – Staff describe it as “heartbreaking”, “wrong” and “a far cry from what they deserve”. The Ontario Health Coalition released the results of a survey today of more than 150 long-term care staff about staffing and care levels in Ontario’s long-term care homes. The survey asked whether staffing is worse, better […]

RELEASE, ANALYSIS & BACKGROUNDER: “There are not enough staff for existing beds & why should more money go to profit? We need care, urgently.” Health Coalition Responds to Ford Government’s Announcement of Enriched Capital Funding for LTC Homes

(July 16, 2020) Toronto – In Thunder Bay there are more than 60 long-term care beds that have not been able to open for years because there is a critical shortage of long-term care staff despite a wait list that numbers almost as many as the total available beds and stretches to more than five […]

RELEASE & REPORT: Most Recent Tracking Report Shows that Ministry of Long-Term Care & Public Health Ontario Have Discontinued Public Reporting of Vital COVID-19 Data, Outbreaks in Health Settings Down but Death Rate Continues to Rise

(June 23, 2020) Toronto – The Ontario Health Coalition released its most recent two-week report tracking the spread of COVID-19 among patients, residents and staff in health care settings today. The Coalition has been tracking every case it has been able to find from reliable sources (all sources footnoted) since March 12 and has regularly […]

REPORT: Tracking of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Health Care Settings – Data Updated to June 2

(June 5, 2020) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below. ——- Introduction Each number included in this tracking data represents a human being who is loved and who has experienced the terrible toll of COVID-19: staff […]

REPORT: New Report on COVID-19 Outbreaks in Health Settings – Data Updated to May 19

(June 2, 2020) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report with a list of all outbreaks. A summary of the report can be found below. Introduction Each number included in this tracking data represents a human being who is loved and who has experienced the terrible toll of COVID-19: staff who […]

REPORT: COVID-19 outbreaks in health settings almost doubled, death toll up by 333.7% – Data updated to May 5

(May 12, 2020) Click here for full version of the health care outbreaks report found below. Each number included in this tracking data represents a human being who is loved and who has experienced the terrible toll of COVID-19: staff who have gone to work despite the risk and the fear; residents and patients who […]

RELEASE & ANALYSIS: COVID-19 Death Rates in Ontario Long-Term Care Homes Significantly Higher and Increasing in For-Profit Homes vs. Non-Profit and Publicly-Owned Homes: New Data Analysis

(May 6, 2020) Toronto – A new analysis released today by the Ontario Health Coalition shows a significantly higher death rate as a result of COVID-19 in long-term care homes that are owned by for-profit corporations as compared to non-profit and public (municipal) homes. The research, done by Rabbi Shalom Schachter, LL.B., executive member of […]

ANALYSIS & RESPONSE: New Directive and Guidelines for COVID-19 in Long-Term Care Homes Inadequate: Coalition Calls for Full Testing, Better Access to PPE, Respect for Human Rights in Care

(April 9, 2020) Long-term care deaths from COVID-19 now account for almost half of all of Ontario’s deceased, according to the provincial data on infections. The numbers of staff and residents who have tested positive is escalating at a devastating pace. Following an emergency meeting of the Ontario Health Coalition long-term care committee including family […]

REPORT: Caring in Crisis: Ontario’s Long-Term Care PSW Shortage

(December 9, 2019) Toronto – The Ontario Health Coalition released a new report today developed in partnership with UNIFOR on the Personal Support Worker (PSW) crisis in Ontario’s long-term care homes. In a press conference at the Ontario Legislature, Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Health Coalition, noted that we chose the word “crisis” carefully. […]

RELEASE, ANALYSIS & BRIEFING NOTE: Health Care Omnibus Bill Sets Up Ontario for Health System Mega-Mergers & Privatization: Worse than the Leaked Draft, Health Coalition Warns

(Updated: April 1, 2019) Click here for our submission to the Standing Committee on Social Policy regarding Bill 74 (April 2019) Click here for update on health omnibus bill hearings (March 2019) Click here for printable version of health omnibus bill briefing note (March 2019) Click here for printable version of health omnibus bill media […]

REPORT Situation Critical: Planning, Access, Levels of Care and Violence in Ontario’s Long-Term Care

(January 24, 2019) The Ontario Health Coalition’s new report, “Situation Critical: Planning, Access, Levels of Care and Violence in Ontario’s Long-Term Care”. The report was inspired by increasingly frequent complaints by families and care workers of violence in long-term care homes (nursing homes). In its research, the Health Coalition found what it describes as “shocking” […]

RELEASE & REPORT: The Elephant at the Health Ministers’ Meetings: How Will Provinces Cope with $31 Billion Cut

(October 18, 2017) New National Report Outlines the Huge Cost of the Failed Health Accord As Health Ministers from across Canada meet in Edmonton today, Canada’s Health Coalitions released a report showing the recent bilateral health schemes pushed through by the Trudeau government have come at a huge cost.  The report “Health Accord Breakdown: Costs […]

REPORT: Protecting the Public Interest in Toronto’s Long-Term Care Homes: A Review of the Evidence on Privatization

(March 26, 2012) Students from the Introduction to Health Policy class at the University of Toronto in partnership with the Ontario Health Coalition reviewed the body of research from across Canada and the United States …

BRIEFING NOTE & ANALYSIS:Briefing Note and Analysis of Shirlee Sharkey Report

(June 23, 2008) The general approach taken in the report, the evaluation of the evidence, and the recommendations run counter to the core proposals made by the Ontario Health Coalition and many other groups that participated in Shirlee Sharkey’s consultation. Some of the recommendations may actually be less than what currently exists or are certainly […]

REPORT: Violence, Insufficient Care, and Downloading of Heavy Care Patients

(May, 2008) An evaluation of increasing need and inadequate standards in Ontario’s nursing homes.

ANALYSIS & SUBMISSION: Review of Staffing and Care Standards for Long-Term Care Homes

(January 31, 2008) The Ontario Health Coalition has, in consultation with seniors’ groups, nurses’ organizations, physicians, community coalitions, unions, members of residents’ and families’ councils, come to a consensus set of key recommendations regarding quality of life and quality of care in long term care homes. Chief among our concerns is the lack of daily […]

SUBMISSION: Submission to the Standing Committee on Social Policy Regarding Bill 140: An Act Respecting Long-Term Care Homes

(January 16, 2007) There are 75,282 long term care beds in Ontario. In these homes tens of thousands of vulnerable and dependent adults live, thousands of volunteers help out, and additional tens of thousands of Ontarians work. The new act respecting conditions and standards for these homes will impact millions of Ontarians in intimate and […]

ANALYSIS & SUMMARY: Bill 140 – Ontario’s New Long Term Care Act Preliminary Summary & Comments

(November 25, 2006) Currently there are 49,700 nursing home beds of which about 10,200 are non profit. Currently there are 24,700 homes for the aged and rest homes beds of which 16,700 are public (municipal) and the rest are non profit (8,000). (Total figures: 39,500 for profit, 18,200 non-profit, 16,700 public.) These beds are governed […]

REPORT: Ownership Matters: Lessons from Ontario’s Long Term Care Facilities

(May 27, 2002) A report prepared for the Hospital Employees’ Union of British Columbia by the OHC which examines the effect of the Ontario Tory government’s privatization of Long Term Care on the quality of care and patients.

REPORT: from Long Term Care Forums

(March 2001) In February and March 2001, the Ontario Health Coalition held hearings across Ontario on the government’s proposed changes to Long Term and Home Care in Ontario.