A Green House dining room (copied with permission)
In June, CARP Ottawa submitted a letter to the editor, the Ottawa Citizen (unpublished) on the controversial topic of privatization of long-term care homes.
Politicians need prodding on care for our seniors – Mohammed Adam – June 21st.
Mohammed Adam does an excellent job of capturing the salient points of the event last Saturday – the screening of the poignant NFB film, Stolen Time. Click here to read the article
The privatization of long-term care homes has been a hot topic for years, escalating dramatically during the pandemic. Although there have been countless debates and published articles by researchers and experts in the field, we have yet to hear from either the large private chains operating so many of Ontario’s homes or the Ontario Government, not even to the Government’s own Commission’s report re a potential solution.
The Ontario government’s Independent Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission addressed the for-profit home issue in its carefully thought-out Report tabled on April 30, 2021.
It recommended that “The government should separate the construction of long-term care facilities from the care provided in those facilities……. Such a model is already employed in hospitals in Ontario. For example, construction of long-term care homes would continue to be open to the private sector so that the capital required to construct the facilities could still be accessed. The province would pay to use the facility as a long-term care home, thereby providing a return to the investors who put up the capital to build. The province would license not-for-profit operators or for-profit operators who are mission-driven rather than dividend-driven to manage the long-term care home.”
Surely there is a way for the Ontario Government and the Private Investors to look at a potential solution. If it is not perfect, it is at least a start. The residents, staff and families all deserve a better quality of life and working conditions. We need to change their institutions to homes.
As one reader rightly comments on Adam’s article, “here we are again, lamenting the same issues and not learning”.
