Protesters demand better care at LTCS
Protest at MPP Sam Oosterhoff’s Beamsville office was one of a dozen across the province
Love for her daughter inspired Robie Bell to join more than a dozen protesters outside Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff’s office Wednesday.
Bell said her daughter Launee, who is in her mid-50s, was forced to move into a St. Catharines long-term-care home three years ago after her physical disabilities became too severe to manage at home.
“It’s very difficult,” she said. “The staff are wonderful. But they’re very short-staffed and they’re rushing all the time.”
Now, after months of being “stuck in her room all day, all night” due to a COVID-19 outbreak, Bell said the isolation her daughter has had to cope with is unbearable.
“Put yourself in a room with one other person who is 40 years older than her,” she said. “The system is really just not working. This is getting to her.”
The protest at Oosterhoff’s Beamsville office was one of a dozen organized by the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) across the province to allow people to voice their concerns about long-term care — as well as proposed legislation they fear will increase privatization in home care.
Sue Hotte, Niagara Health Coalition chair, said that legislation — Bill 175, the Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act — introduced in February by Health Minister Christine Elliott, opens the door for more privation in the health-care system without providing adequate democratic debate on the issues.
She said the province should instead be focused on increasing care levels in long-termcare homes to improve the quality of life for residents.
“There’s no two ways about it, the for-profit corporations are a very important lobby,” Hotte said. “They’re raking in money now and this will make it even bigger.”
Protester Shideh Houshmandi said people need only look to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had in the U.S. to understand the importance of public health care.
“The neighbours that we have down south, they have a forprofit health-care system that’s not serving their people,” she said. “The people are dying. They’re dying by the thousands and their government is failing them. We don’t want that here.”
Houshmandi said the Ontario legislation is another step towards adopting a U.s.-based health-care model here.
“We need to stop this. This is just going to be a slippery slope to everything being privatized,” she said. “This is the beginning of the end.”
She urged people to educate themselves on the issues and share their concerns with political leaders.
“Bringing for-profit, privatizing is not the answer,” she said.
Oosterhoff said he hopes to meet with health coalition representatives to discuss their concerns, because after reviewing the yet-to-be-approved legislation he believes the protesters may be incorrect about the implications of Bill 175.
“I don’t believe the legislation does what they say it does,” he said.
He said he is not aware of any aspect of the legislation that promotes privatization of health care.
Instead, Oosterhoff said, the proposed legislation, which hasn’t been updated since the 1990s, breaks down barriers between home-care and primarycare providers, allowing a more seamless transition of care for patients.
“I am going to be sitting down with the local Ontario Health Coalition at some point, either on Zoom or perhaps later in person to talk about their concerns,” he added.
Meanwhile, Oosterhoff said the province is developing programs to help “ensuring we have more PSWS (personal support workers) and more hours of care that can be provided in long-term care.” reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: allan.benner@niagaradailies.com