{"id":29977,"date":"2024-10-17T14:28:38","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T18:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=29977"},"modified":"2024-10-17T14:28:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T18:28:38","slug":"ontario-government-faces-court-challenge-over-orchard-villa-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ontario-government-faces-court-challenge-over-orchard-villa-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario government faces court challenge over Orchard Villa expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

(October 16, 2024) By: Afua Baah, CityNews Toronto<\/p>\n

Cathy Parkes\u2019 father was a resident of Orchard Villa long-term care home in Pickering. He died of COVID-19 in April 2020, but Cathy said the state in which her father lived his final days was deplorable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conditions surrounding his death were very traumatic for my family and for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parkes and the Ontario Health Coalition are taking the province to court on Thursday. They are challenging the Ford government\u2019s approval of an 88-bed expansion and new 30-year license for the long term care home, which is run by Southbridge Care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis from a company that has one of the very worst records of substandard care, negligence, neglect, horror and death in their facility,\u201d said Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of Ontario Health Coalition.<\/p>\n

CityNews reached out to Southbridge Care for comment and did not hear back in time for broadcast.<\/p>\n

Advocates said the province isn\u2019t adhering to its own long-term care act which said that government can\u2019t issue licenses to long-term care homeowners that have had a history of sub standard care. They want the courts to ultimately quash the home\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

Orchard Villa was one of the homes hit hardest during the pandemic. Of the the home\u2019s 233 residents, 206 contracted COVID-19. More than 70 people died during the pandemic\u2019s first wave.<\/p>\n

The province called in the military to help Orchard Villa and six other homes. The Canadian Armed Forces came out with a report afterwards,<\/span> <\/strong><\/a>detailing troubling allegations at the Pickering home, which included insect infestations and patients left in soiled diapers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy on earth would we give this 30 years and a massive expansion to such a company with such a record?\u201d said Mehra.<\/p>\n

Last June, the Ford government issued zoning orders to speed up the redevelopment of Orchard Villa, <\/a><\/strong><\/span>despite Pickering council rejecting the company\u2019s zoning request.<\/p>\n

The province for its part, said the expansion is in the public\u2019s interest. In a statement, they tell CityNews in part: \u201cThe people of Pickering deserve a new, modern long-term care home, where currently hundreds of people are waiting for care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was our government that brought in the most robust safety requirements in North America in the Fixing Long-Term Care Act. The license extension also makes certain requirements such as hiring a management company for at least the first year of operation as well as contracting a hospital or non-profit entity to provide ongoing clinical supports\/back-up as required for at least the first year of operation.<\/p>\n

All proposed license extensions must undergo a rigorous undertaking process to show they can meet these new high standards, as is the case with the proposed Pickering development,\u201d read their statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating more beds without the quality of care is simply creating more horrific ways for more people to die,\u201d said Parkes.<\/p>\n

The one-day hearing will happen on Thursday in front of a panel of judges, where both sides will present their case. A decision could then be handed down in the next several weeks.<\/p>\n

Click here for the original article and video<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(October 16, 2024) By: Afua Baah, CityNews Toronto Cathy Parkes\u2019 father was a resident of Orchard Villa long-term care home in Pickering. He died of COVID-19 in April 2020, but Cathy said the state in which her father lived his final days was deplorable. \u201cThe conditions surrounding his death were very traumatic for my family […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-long-term-care-chronic-care","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOntario government faces court challenge over Orchard Villa expansion - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(October 16, 2024) By: Afua Baah, CityNews Toronto Cathy Parkes\u2019 father was a resident of Orchard Villa long-term care home in Pickering. 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