Ontario is unveiling new long-term care legislation. Here's what advocates want in it
CBC
Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government will reveal new legislation Thursday for the province's long-term care homes, where COVID-19 outbreaks killed more than 3,800 people during the pandemic.
Advocates for seniors are describing this as a now-or-never moment for Ontario to improve long-term care and the living conditions of the vulnerable elderly who reside there.
The government is pledging that its bill will bring better accountability, enforcement and transparency to the nursing home sector and enshrine residents' rights.
The long-awaited legislation has been repeatedly promised and foreshadowed by the government since a commission slammed the province for failing long-term care residents both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic began ripping through Ontario's 626 homes.
Minister of Long-Term Care Rod Phillips announced on Tuesday plans for Ontario to beef up enforcement by doubling the number of long-term care inspectors and by mounting proactive inspections of homes, something the Ford government all but scrapped shortly after taking office, as revealed by a CBC News investigation.
The long-term care sector needs more than just a change in legislation or stricter enforcement, says Lisa Levin, CEO of AdvantAge Ontario, an association representing more than 200 not-for-profit and municipally run homes.
"We need to transform the system," said Levin in an interview with CBC News. "We are at a critical juncture now in long-term care. If we don't have significant changes now, I don't know if we ever will. This is our moment. This is our opportunity to really change the system."
Ontario's long-term care homes have been underfunded and under-resourced for years, Levin said.
"Unfortunately, it took the tragic death of thousands of people through COVID-19 for the public and government to recognize that we need major changes," she said.
Levin says the government is "heading in the wrong direction" by awarding for-profit operators 60 per cent of its contracts to build new long-term care homes.
The group that represents predominantly privately owned facilities, the Ontario Long-Term Care Association, recently released its recommendations for reforms.
People whose loved ones have lived in long-term care are looking to Thursday's bill with much anticipation.
Vivian Stamatopoulos began her advocacy before the onset of COVID-19 when her grandmother was living in a home and became a prominent spokesperson during the pandemic.
The system "really needs drastic reformation," said Stamatopoulos, an assistant teaching professor at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ont. She's concerned that legislative amendments alone won't make a significant difference.
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