New patient ombudsman to head probe of nursing homes
Position has been vacant since Ford government took power two years ago
After leaving the job vacant since taking power two years ago, Premier Doug Ford’s government has hired a new patient ombudsman to keep watch on troubles Ontarians experience in health and home care.
The appointment of longtime health advocate Cathy Fooks to the $203,000-a-year post formerly held by Health Minister Christine Elliott comes with the government under fire for a heavy death toll in nursing homes from COVID-19.
The virus has infected more than 33,000 Ontarians and killed at least 2,500 — including 1,772 residents in long-term care, where 65 homes are still fighting outbreaks of the highly contagious virus.
New data from the Ministry of Health also showed the most ethnically diverse and poorest neighbourhoods are three times more likely to contract COVID-19 than predominantly white and wealthier area.
Fooks will take charge of an investigation into the impacts of the coronavirus on nursinghome residents and staff recently announced by the office and serve as a backstop for patients and families whose complaints to hospitals or other health-care organizations are not resolved.
“Patient and caregiver voices matter now more than ever and need to continue to be heard,” she said in a statement released by the Ministry of Health. “They will help us make the right changes that need to be done.”
Just over 5,300 nursing home residents have become infected with COVID-19 despite promises from Ford to place an “iron ring” of protection around long-term care, and 683 residents are still fighting the virus.
The virus also claimed the lives of seven of 1,967 nursinghome employees who caught it and led to dangerously low staffing levels, with 590 longterm-care workers still sick, according to Ministry of Health statistics Thursday. Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton acknowledged it is a “difficult time” and said Fooks will be “working to ensure seniors and their families are heard as we work to improve Ontario’s long-term care homes.”
Several have required emergency help from military medical teams or have been taken over by the province, with officials from nearby hospitals sent in to manage them for 90 days.
Fooks has served as the chief executive of the Change Foundation, an organization focused on improving health care, since 2007 and was the first executive director of the Health Council of Canada. Previously, she worked for two health ministers as a policy adviser.
She was appointed to a fiveyear term following a search by an executive recruitment firm that began in January.
“Cathy Fooks brings over 30 years of experience advocating for change to improve the care
Ontarians received,” said Elliott, who was appointed the province’s first patient ombudsman by the previous Liberal government to boost transparency in the system.
Elliott, who was a fierce critic of the Liberals as an opposition MPP, quit the post in the winter of 2018 to run for the Progressive Conservative leadership after the resignation of Patrick Brown, and subsequently lost to Ford in a close contest.
The patient ombudsman’s office has 18 staff members and is embedded in Ontario Health, the new superagency created by Elliott to consolidate the health system with goals of streamlining and improving the patient experience.
Fooks will have the power to investigate complaints, make recommendations for improvements and will issue an annual report. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals continued to fall in figures released by the Ministry of Health on Thursday, declining to 538 people with 120 in intensive care and 87 requiring ventilators to breathe.
Testing numbers improved to a record high with 24,341 samples processed in labs on Wednesday and 203 new cases confirmed as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.
A more up-to-date Star compilation of data from health units across the province at 5 p.m.
Thursday showed 238 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours, among the lowest daily increases since March, increasing Ontario's case total to 33,382. There were 10 deaths, increasing the fatality toll to 2,543.
The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals continued to fall in figures released on Thursday