(October 13, 2020)<\/p>\n
By: Ryan Forbes, Kenora Online<\/p>\n
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says if she\u2019s elected Premier, her party will transform the look of long-term care homes across the province.<\/p>\n
In a virtual media conference, Horwath was joined by Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa and guest speaker Estelle Cantera, who told her family\u2019s story of the mistreatment her mother suffered while living in a long-term care home facility.<\/p>\n
Horwath unveiled an eight-year plan to create a new long-term care home system, which would include closing down for-profit facilities and moving seniors to smaller homes or communities, opposed to a large facility that \u2018doesn\u2019t feel like home\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe system is completely broken,\u201d said Horwath. \u201cCare homes and home-care are extremely short-staffed. People regularly get neglected. They get sick with dehydration and malnourishment. We have a revolving door of underpaid, part-time workers who are literally run off their feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NDP say if they\u2019re elected, their eight-year plan would add tens of thousands of new spaces for seniors, and would eliminate the long-term care system\u2019s extensive waiting list. It would also create culturally-relevant care, and would better support personal support workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a plan for the long-term care system that gives people a better quality of life, instead of taking it away. We will completely overhaul long-term care, so that\u2019s it\u2019s public, and not for-profit,\u201d added Horwath.<\/p>\n
The NDP\u2019s plan would cost $750 million in capital investments, with $3 billion in annual operating costs.<\/p>\n
Ontario says they\u2019re currently investing $1.75 billion toward the long-term care home sector, and added legislation to ensure all facilities have air conditioning. On October 1, Ontario also announced another $461 million to temporarily raise hourly wages for personal support workers.<\/p>\n
Long-term care homes have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 65 per cent of Ontario\u2019s COVID-19 related deaths coming from long-term care facilities.<\/p>\n
In February, a study began into the sector\u2019s staffing crisis. It found that 60 per cent of staff in long-term care homes are personal support workers, and 40 per cent of the PSW’s left within a year of graduating from their program.<\/p>\n
On average, authors of the study found the wait time for a long-term care bed is 152 days, and in that time resident needs may continue to increase.<\/p>\n
In July, Ontario\u2019s Health Coalition surveyed 150 personal support workers about their working conditions. The survey found that 95 percent of the staff report that their long-term care homes are short staffed.<\/p>\n
The healthcare sector ranks second highest for injuries resulting in time lost in Ontario, and long-term care workers are among the most at risk for physical injury within the sector.<\/p>\n
Ontario\u2019s next provincial election is set for June 2, 2022.<\/p>\n