![]() ![]() "This is kind of a convenient way for homes to meet their occupancy targets because they've got beds, and now we have a mechanism to fill that, whether people want to go there or not," said Sinha. The homes that have vacancies are generally for-profit or older facilities, he says, struggling to fill their beds or meet their occupancy targets to get funds from the province. Sinha says non-profit and municipal LTC homes generally have better track records and thus have longer wait lists, even though they represent only about a third of all homes in Ontario. "I fear that this is going to make it hard for people to want to even access hospital care when they know that the risk is that they might actually be forced to actually go to a home they never, ever wanted to end up in," said Sinha, who is also the director of geriatrics at Mount Sinai and the University Health Network in Toronto. Samir Sinha, the National Institute on Ageing's director of health policy research, says this legislation will impact hospitals and their ability to provide high-quality care to elderly patients. "It absolutely is something that we would be looking at, and are already discussing." Bill may deter elderly from seeking care, critic saysĭr. "I know many lawyers are looking at this and are absolutely horrified at this breach of fundamental justice and fundamental rights of people, specifically the elderly and people who are disabled," said Meadus. Meadus says while it's hard to say what kind of legal action can be taken until further details are released, lawyers are already eyeing legal options. Ontario to fund more private clinic surgeries, send patients to temporary LTCs to ease health-care pressures."Eventually, I wouldn't be able to support even myself." "My fear is they'll move her into some location, lord knows where, where I can't support my son, I can't support her," said Pethke. Pethke is a caregiver to son, who has an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis and is in long-term care, and to his 95-year-old mother, who's starting to suffer from dementia on top of a bad hip. Rainer Pethke, who lives in the Township of Berwick near Ottawa, says his heart sank when he heard of the bill. It says the legislative changes could mean 200 of those patients end up in nursing homes by the end of fall and up to 1,300 patients within six months. The ministry said about 40 per cent of those patients are on a wait-list for long-term care. There are about 5,800 patients now in hospital who could be sent to an alternate level of care if beds were available, the Ontario Hospital Association said this week. "There is a challenge in acute care, and long-term care is in a position to make a difference for the first time in generations," said Calandra. The Ontario Long Term Care Association has previously said the bill won't address staffing issues. WATCH: Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra discusses proposed changes to LTC:ĭuration 10:30 "If you're on the long-term care wait list, the best place to wait for long-term care is in a long-term care, freeing up those acute care beds for other people who really need them," says Ontario Long-term Care Minister Paul Calandra.īefore the bill was introduced, Calandra said Thursday the legislation would not force anyone who doesn't want to leave the hospital to go and wouldn't make "any changes to the priority waiting list," but would allow long-term care homes to be part of the solution to improving Ontario hospitals - many of which are under severe strain due to staffing shortages. "And frankly, does it matter what they want, what they need, what is in their best interests? Apparently, what is important is just making sure that all of these beds are full." "How does all of this not send the direct message to seniors that their lives don't matter?" said Stamatopoulos Friday at a news conference withthe Advocacy Centre for the Elderly and the Ontario Health Coalition. Vivian Stamatopoulos, a long-term care advocate and professor at Ontario Tech University, called the legislation "morally repugnant." Send an email to 7, More Beds, Better Care Act, authorizes certain actions to be carried out - such as the transfer of a patient to an LTC home - without the consent of patients if an attending clinician deems they require "an alternate level of care."ĭr. Are you worried your loved one might be moved from a hospital to an LTC home they didn't choose? We want to hear from you for an upcoming story.On Thursday, Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra introduced new legislation that, if passed, would allow hospitals to transfer patients awaiting a bed in their preferred LTC home to be placed in a "temporary" home after staff make "reasonable efforts to obtain the patient's consent." ![]() A group of senior care advocates and critics is warning planned changes to the long-term care sector are a fundamental violation of patient rights. ![]()
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