Moving vulnerable seniors into a long-term care facility, not of their choice does not sit well with Nickel Belt MPP, France Gelinas, so she has sent a letter to the Human Rights Commission.
She says that Bill 7, which could force the elderly now receiving alternative accommodations in hospitals would be forced into a long-term home, not of their choosing.
She says most alternate levels of care patients in hospitals are not waiting for a long-term care bed, but rather home care.
Gelinas adds several other groups including the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Ontario Health Coalition also wrote to the Ontario Human Rights Commission this week asking for what they call an inquiry into age-based discrimination.
She wants the Commissioner to make a finding as to whether Bill 7 effectively overrides the human rights of Ontario’s Alternate Level of Care patients. The Ford government bypassed public hearings on the bill insisting it’s needed to quell the province’s current healthcare crisis that has seen many emergency departments and hospital units shut down for hours or days at a time.
The closures have been blamed on staffing shortages.
