December 8th, 2020

Toronto-St. Paul's MPP asks Ford to stop takeover of Korean LTC

TORONTO--Toronto-St. Paul's MPP Jill Andrew called on the Ford government to reject the license transfer of the non-profit Rose of Sharon Korean Long-Term Care to for-profit company Rykka Care Centres.

Rose of Sharon is Ontario's only Korean long-term care home, and offers culturally relevant meals, programming and care. Rykka has no ties to the Korean community. An operating partner of Responsive Group, Rykka operates some of the homes in Ontario with the highest COVID-19 infection rates, including Eatonville and Hawthorne Place.

"People in the Korean community are terrified of the impact the for-profit takeover of Rose of Sharon will have on them and their loved ones," Andrew said. "Residents don't feel safe being bought by a company riddled with lawsuits and a record of over 115 COVID-19 deaths, while the best practices at Rose of Sharon have resulted in zero outbreaks."

A Coalition of Concerned Koreans have presented the government with over 20,000 signatures protesting the takeover, plus over 4,000 signatures on a second petition on Change.org.

The NDP has been calling on Doug Ford to put a moratorium on issuing any new licenses to private, for-profit long-term care homes.

"The government must protect our Korean residents in St. Paul's and stop this sale immediately," Andrew said.