(May 27, 2020)<\/p>\n
By: Donald Macdonald, S<\/span>udbury Star<\/span><\/p>\n The fact it took the Canadian military to reveal the true scope of the horrific conditions in five Ontario long-term care homes more than two months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is deeply alarming.<\/p>\n Why didn\u2019t the province\u2019s inspection system uncover these appalling conditions long before now, including unconscionable examples of patient neglect and abuse, a complete breakdown of infection control, rotten food, cockroach infestations and bed-bound seniors lying helpless in their own waste?<\/p>\n With almost 80% of Ontario\u2019s COVID-19 deaths occurring in the province\u2019s long-term care facilities, it\u2019s obvious these problems aren\u2019t confined to these five homes, or that the system was operating properly until the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n Premier Doug Ford called the military\u2019s findings \u201cheart-breaking, horrific \u2026 gut wrenching\u201d adding, \u201creading those reports is the hardest thing I\u2019ve done as premier.\u201d<\/p>\n It also happened on his watch, which means it\u2019s now his job to start fixing a broken system, which critics say Ford compounded by providing inadequate funding.<\/p>\n But Ford doesn\u2019t carry the can for this alone.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said he was \u201csad\u201d \u201cshocked\u201d \u201cdisappointed\u201d and \u201cangry\u201d about the military\u2019s findings, rightly added: \u201cI believe we\u2019re talking about a situation that clearly is a reality associated with COVID-19, but has also existed for quite some time now.\u201d<\/p>\n Exactly. Problems with Ontario\u2019s long-term care homes go back decades and are the result of successive failures by provincial governments of all stripes.<\/p>\n As the Ontario Health Coalition noted in a January 2019\u00a0 report \u2014 before anyone had ever heard of COVID-19 \u2014 the root problems are a lack of beds, which have created a massive waiting list of patients, and inadequate funding and standards to provide proper care for those already in the homes.<\/p>\n Ford promises the five homes cited in the report by the military will be held accountable for their actions, including the possibility of criminal charges of neglect.<\/p>\n But that won\u2019t address the much wider problems in long-term care, nor will the government\u2019s promise of an independent commission or a public inquiry called for by the government\u2019s critics.<\/p>\n Nothing will change unless governments of all political stripes going forward are committed to fixing a crisis they caused through decades of neglect.<\/p>\n