Ford is left to answer for ‘ horrific’ price

Dire risk to senior homes never in doubt

After 1,538 deaths in Ontario long- term homes, one would have thought the story couldn’t get much worse. But a federal report Tuesday on five troubled homes has forced the provincial government into severe, but largely unsuccessful, damage control.

Premier Doug Ford described the situation at the five homes as “appalling,” “disgusting,” “heartbreaking” and “horrific” as he searched for an adjective sufficient to describe the problem. He needn’t have bothered. The report speaks for itself.

A month ago, the province called on military help to restore control in the beleaguered homes. In its report on the deployment, the military said it found residents being left in their beds, not being bathed for weeks, fecal matter in rooms, cockroaches, residents crying out for help for hours, contaminated medical equipment and improperly used protective equipment. In a word, bedlam.

Tuesday certainly wasn’t the first day that Ford has been called to account for Ontario’s weak response to COVID-19 in long-term care. He has a durable line about how he inherited an Ontario system that has been “broken” for decades, and his government is working hard to fix it. That’s a fair point, but it didn’t help him much this time.

The question Ford did not really answer in his daily media event is this: If these five homes were so bad that the province had to call in the military, how in the world did provincial officials not know just how horrible the conditions had become?

Ford and his ministers of long- term care and health recounted how the province had sent in public health officials, then workers from hospitals, and finally called for volunteers before calling in the military. Did none of these people notice what was going on?

Ford suggested that maybe the soldiers saw more because they were there 24/7. What did everyone else do, drive by? The province has 175 long- term care inspectors. If these five homes were the most beleaguered in the province, shouldn’t an inspector have been there around the clock?

Collectively, these homes have accounted for 225 deaths. That might have set off some alarm bells. Instead, the situation was allowed to deteriorate to the point where Ford now has to launch to an investigation that might lead to possible criminal charges. As of May 24, three of the five homes still had not met safety standards.

The threat to residents of long- term care homes was obvious from the start of the pandemic. Many residents are housed two or even four to a room, with a shared bathroom. The residents themselves are elderly and unwell. They suffer from dementia, heart disease and circulation diseases. Despite all of that, long- term care is not part of provincial health care and there is minimal medical oversight.

It doesn’t take much to tip an aged and often unwell population into a serious health crisis. and the government was too slow to protect these vulnerable seniors. Yes, when a person enters longterm care he is only a year away from death, on average. But no one should die in the conditions found in these five homes.

So, what should be done and how should it be paid for? Ford was all over the map about that Tuesday. While vowing to fix longterm homes, no matter the cost, he also said that it couldn’t be done without the help of the federal government. In making that point, Ford was politely calling out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It’s all well and good for the PM to lend sympathy and troops, but that’s not what’s needed post-pandemic.

Long- term care is hugely expensive. Ontario has budgeted $ 4.3 billion to help just 79,000 people, and let’s not forget that those care residents pay part of the cost themselves. Now, people are calling for longterm care to become part of the health- care system and for government to take over privately owned homes, which make up 58 per cent of the facilities in Ontario. The cost of acquiring those homes would be substantial, and the benefit is less clear. If the province wants to raise standards and staffing levels, it has the power to do that now.

It’s a bitter irony that Ford and his government have had to own the worst disaster ever to befall the province’s long-term care system. The PC government is the first in this century to offer real improvement in the sector with an ambitious program to expand and modernize the system.

It’s important to note, as Ford did, that most homes are much better than the troubled five. The vast majority have not had an outbreak. Unfortunately, the weakest homes are dragging down the system and taking hundreds of unfortunate seniors with them. There is just no way for a political leader to talk his way out of that.

as of may 24, 3 of the 5 homes still had not met standard.