{"id":14932,"date":"2020-10-23T13:13:12","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T17:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=14932"},"modified":"2020-11-02T14:23:24","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T19:23:24","slug":"will-ltc-homes-never-be-held-to-account-for-covid-deaths-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/will-ltc-homes-never-be-held-to-account-for-covid-deaths-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Will LTC homes never be held to account for COVID deaths?"},"content":{"rendered":"

(October 22, 2020)<\/p>\n

By: Sue-Ann Levy, Toronto Sun<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

COVID-19-Diane Colangelo visits her 86-year-old mother Patricia through a window at the Orchard Villa long-term care home in Pickering on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Patricia tested postivive for coronavirus days later and died on May 7, 2020. PHOTO BY VERONICA HENRI \/TORONTO SUN FILES<\/em><\/p>\n

The executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition worries the truth will never get out about the poor-performing long-term care homes after the Ford government introduced a new COVID-19 liability law this week.<\/p>\n

Natalie Mehra told the Toronto Sun her phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from families who fear their \u201crights are being extinguished\u201d with the proposed legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth has to be told,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The legislation \u2013tabled Tuesday and retroactive to March 17\u2013raises the standard for those harmed from COVID-19 to prove \u201cgross negligence\u201d instead of ordinary negligence. It also changes the definition of \u201cgood faith effort\u201d to comprise \u201can honest effort whether reasonable or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mehra said if passed, the legislation will make it \u201csignificantly harder\u201d to sue a LTC home and \u201csignificantly easier\u201d for a home to defend itself.<\/p>\n

Dozens of class-action suits have been launched in the aftermath of the first wave of COVID-19, including a $500-million class action lawsuit against 96 Ontario long-term care homes to send a clear message the COVID deaths that occurred in them were \u201cpreventable\u201d and that this tragedy should not happen again, according to the claim.<\/p>\n

More than 70% of Ontario\u2019s COVID deaths took place in LTC homes and it got so bad at some of them that the Canadian military had to be called in from April to June.<\/p>\n

Patricia Spindel, one of the founders of Seniors for Social Action Ontario, said was she was shocked at the \u201cbald-faced nerve\u201d of members of the Ontario Term Care Association (representing 630 homes) during their recent testimony to the provincial LTC Commission.<\/p>\n

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