Ford is leaving seniors in long-term care vulnerable amid second wave: NDP

QUEEN’S PARK — Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath released the following statement in response to the Ford government’s announcement today regarding long-term care:

“Doug Ford has left seniors living in long-term care vulnerable as his government scrambles to catch up to the second wave of COVID-19. For families fortunate to have come out the other side of the first wave with their parents and grandparents, it’s distressing to think that their loved ones might be even less protected than the first time around – with fewer staff than ever before, and cases numbers and outbreaks on the rise again in long-term care homes.

Today’s announcement does very little to recruit or retain staff for long-term care, and falls far, far short of investing in the many extra pairs of hands every long-term care home needs right now.

Personal support workers (PSWs) have left the profession in droves due to illness, low wages, or because the risk is too great for themselves and their loved ones. Doug Ford’s announcement today doesn’t even make up for the staffing shortage this has created in long-term care homes since the pandemic struck.

Ontario families with loved ones in long-term care deserve so much better than a government that keeps trying to save a buck by doing the bare minimum.

There is so much more that the government should be doing to shore up long-term care against the second wave of COVID-19 and that we didn’t see today. If I were premier, I would have instituted a permanent wage hike for PSWs, and made their jobs full-time jobs; ended the practice of moving staff from facility to facility; brought in a minimum of one infection control specialist for every 200 beds, as experts have recommended; and immediately reinstated of the comprehensive resident quality inspections that Ford cancelled — so we can catch problems before they become the source of a second wave of infections in each home.”