Ford government confirms cruel scheme to bill hundreds a day, send seniors hours away

NDP responds to disturbing new details of legislation forcing people into long-term care

On Wednesday the Doug Ford government confirmed Bill 7 will force people into long-term care homes they didn’t choose as far as 150 kilometres away, and require hospitals to charge families $400 a day if a senior doesn’t want to move there. NDP Health Care critic France Gélinas and NDP Long-Term Care critic Wayne Gates released the following statement in response:

“Now we know that Doug Ford’s government will require all hospitals to bill all families ready for long-term care a whopping $400 a day — or wave goodbye to their loved ones and watch helplessly as they are ordered to move hours away. Removing frail elderly people from their loved ones and essential caregivers is horrifying, and will cause seniors’ health and well-being to go downhill fast. Imagine having to drive two hours to kiss your wife goodnight. Imagine the guilt of knowing you can’t afford to pay $400 a day to keep your dad in hospital, and having to put him in a for-profit long-term care home with a devastating record and disgusting living conditions.

These seniors do not have doctors and nurses assigned to them when they’re in hospital. Forcing them to move will not ease our health care staffing crisis one bit. What we should be doing is addressing the staffing crisis at the heart of our health care crisis, not playing a cruel game of musical chairs that kicks seniors and people with disabilities out of hospital beds.”