Niagara MPP not surprised by scathing nursing homes report
Jeff Burch says he’s been warning provincial government for 20 years
After more than a decade of calling for improvements to long-term-care homes across the province, Niagara’s opposition MPPs hope changes might finally be implemented.
“I’m grateful that people are finally paying attention, but what do you have to do to get people to listen?” said Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch, referring to a report published Tuesday by the Canadian military that looked into conditions at five Ontario long-term-care homes.
Although none of those homes in that study are located within the Niagara region, the New Democrat pointed out that facilities here have struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic as well.
“We’ve been talking about this for 20 years,” added Burch, who recalled lobbying for improvements to longterm-care homes while working for the Service Employees International
Union Healthcare in the early 2000s.
“We’ve been warning people for so long that these things were going on and we were just ignored. Unions have been ignored and public health officials. Hopefully with this, people will pay attention and it will bring about some change.”
The report, developed by Canadian Armed Forces members brought in to assist workers at five long-term-care homes dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks, highlighted numerous concerns at the Toronto-area facilities — including hygiene issues such as significant fecal contamination, feeding concerns, cockroach infestations and severe understaffing, as well as a lack of supplies and a “general culture of fear to use supplies because they cost money.”
Burch said the NDP, labour and health-care organizations have been asking the province to implement a minimum standard of care of four hours per resident for more than a decade, as well as increase staffing levels, create more full-time jobs and reduce staff having to travel between facilities to obtain enough hours to earn a living.
“These issues are not new for those of us who have been working in health care, warning the government. Maybe there’s a little bit of hope now that people will actually listen and realize that there has to be serious systemic change,” he said.
Although the report garnered a strong reaction from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who described the report as “heartbreaking” and “horrific.”
"It's shocking that this can happen here in Canada. It's gutwrenching," he said.
The province followed up with an announcement Thursday saying it has assigned teams to conduct comprehensive inspections of high-risk longterm care homes during the next 21 days.
An independent commission into Ontario’s long-term-care system is also now set to begin in July.
“I made a commitment to our long-term care residents and their families that there would be accountability and justice after receiving the military’s heartbreaking report on the state of five of our homes,” Ford said in a media release, adding it may result in police investigations and potential criminal charges, additional inspections and possible retraining.
Burch said the response has given him reason to hope that changes may be enacted.
“But I can’t say that I’m confident,” he said.
Burch said he represented hospital workers in the midst of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome crisis and at that time, “and we thought that would bring about substantial change.” Regardless, he said “things actually got worse” following the crisis.
“I’m not sure what it takes to get people to sit up and pay attention, but hopefully this will finally do it,” Burch said.