A group of health advocates says the pandemic has shone a brighter light on issues in long term care homes across the province.
Shirley Roebuck with the local chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition says the problems are nothing new, but have reached urgent levels.
“COVID-19 has revealed what has been happening over the years,” Roebuck says. “Dangerously low staffing has revealed that clients of long term care homes are not receiving even adequate care.”
Roebuck says having municipal staff redeployed to Riverview Gardens during the first few months of the pandemic was a relief, but there needs to be a long-term solution.
“Our government has not made one move to address the problems with long term care staffing. There’s not been one thing done to increase staffing, to increase wages, to stabilize the workforce with full time jobs, none of that has been done.”
With an expected second wave of COVID-19, Roebuck says time is of the essence, and is calling on area residents to write to Premier Doug Ford and their local MPPs to take action.
The Ontario Health Coalition is planning a rally for October 8th, although Roebuck says the details are still being worked out.
