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‘More deaths and less care’ after bill: Lawyer
Posted: November 13, 2020
(November 12, 2020)
By: Sue-Ann Levy, Ottawa Sun
If Bill 218 passes next week, residents and their loved ones will see more of the “same” negligence and substandard care in Ontario long-term care homes, advocates for the elderly predict.
“This is their get-outof-jail-free card,” Graham Webb, executive director of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, told a press conference Wednesday.
Lawyer Gary Will, of Will Davidson, is representing 2,000 clients in nine homes in class-action lawsuits. He insisted the situation is likely to “get worse” if there is no accountability for negligent conduct.
“There will be more infections, more deaths and less care for residents,” he said.
The legislation – tabled Oct. 20, and retroactive to March 17 – significantly raises the burden of proof for families which want to sue for alleged negligence during the pandemic.
Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, said requests to take LTC and retirement homes out of the legislation were refused.
