Ford not acting to fix LTC, even as his own report calls for more staffing, better wages and job security for workers

QUEEN’S PARK — Teresa Armstrong, Long-term Care critic for Ontario’s Official Opposition NDP released the following statement in response to the release of the province’s study on staffing in long-term care:

“Today’s report confirms what health care workers, health experts, and families of seniors in long-term care have been saying for literally years. Our province’s long-term care homes are facing a profound staffing crisis, which is devastating residents’ quality of life, their safety and their health. Long-term care facilities are incredibly understaffed, and the folks who do the vital work of caring for seniors are overworked, undercompensated and taken advantage of.

The problem is clear and so is the way forward. But even with the tragedy of over 1,840 COVID-19 deaths in long-term care, Doug Ford refuses to act to protect residents and improve staffing. Today’s report includes no commitments, no timelines and not a single dollar in funding to fix it.

Doug Ford should pass my bill – the Time to Care Act – which would increase staffing to give all residents four hours of hands on care per day. And the government should hire enough frontline workers, including PSWs, and make their jobs full-time, and better paid. Immediate change to make life better for seniors in care is possible, and they can’t afford for yet another government to study the problem without fixing it.”