Ontario has sent nearly 300 patients from hospital to long-term care (LTC) homes against their will. The province moved them from hospitals to long-term care homes under a law that took effect a year ago.
By law, there is a provision to send these patients to a care home 70 km or 150 km away in Northern Ontario. There is no need to take consent from them. If they refuse, they will have to pay a fine of $400 per day.
The ministry of long-term care did not disclose the exact number of patients sent to long-term care homes under the new law. But Long-Term Care Minister Stan Cho has now confirmed that 293 patients have been transferred to long-term care homes between September 2022 and January this year, despite not choosing to. They represent 1.7 percent of the total number of patients referred from public hospitals to long-term care homes for alternative care during that period.
Cho said, “We should bring people who are long-term care home residents and have been to the hospital back home.” This will free up hospital beds for emergency patients. Let’s provide the right service to the right person at the right place.
Cho said he did not know if anyone had been fined under the new law.
According to NDP Leader Marit Stiles, the $400 a day fine is too high for most people to accept. “It’s scary for them to be honest,” he said. It is appalling to continue such a program of instilling fear and is forcing people to leave their communities.
Patricia Spindle, co-founder of Social Action Ontario, said the law’s implications for senior citizens are frightening.
