Long-Term Care Secretary Paul Calandra said the legislation would free up acute care beds in hospitals. According to the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), there were 5,930 “alternate level of care” patients — those deemed to no longer need acute care — in the hospital on Aug. 17, of whom 40 per cent were waiting for space in long-term care. While the bill’s text says hospitals must make a “reasonable effort” to obtain patients’ consent, it would theoretically allow patients to be transferred to a temporary long-term care home without their consent while they wait for a bed at their preferred facility. The government moved a motion last week that would advance the bill straight to third reading, meaning it would not be considered by committee or subject to public hearings at that stage. The law does not allow the physical transfer of patients to a long-term care home, but it remains unclear what would happen if a patient refuses the transfer. In some cases currently, if a patient refuses to be transferred to a long-term care facility of their choice, a hospital can formally discharge them and charge them a daily uninsured fee. This can be $1,500 or more per day. The NDP claims the government is “silencing” the opposition by bypassing public input on the controversial legislation. Wayne Gates, an NDP MPP and critic of long-term care, nursing homes and home care, held what the party called an “emergency hearing” Monday morning. The meeting heard from health care workers, advocates and union members, with many of the speakers calling for the withdrawal of Bill 7, called the More Beds, Better Care Act. “We simply cannot support this legislation,” said Jane Meadus, staff attorney at the Advocacy Center for the Elderly. The Seniors Advocacy Center frequently provides comments on health care-related legislation during the committee phase. But in the case of Bill 7, the government has chosen not to schedule committee hearings and has already advanced the bill directly to third reading, the final stage before it is voted on by MPPs. “There’s nothing in this act that does what it says it’s supposed to do,” Meadus said. Other speakers said the legislation would unfairly target sick, elderly and vulnerable people, as well as the disabled. “Now the competition for very few resources is once again on the backs of the elderly, the frailest, the vulnerable,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “In the end it will be the people who cannot speak for themselves who will be pushed into places far away that are inappropriate, that are not of their choice, without any kind of support system for them.” Both the NDP and Liberals claimed the regulations supporting the legislation would allow patients in Northern Ontario to move up to 300 km from their homes. Meanwhile, patients in most of southern Ontario could be up to 100 kilometers away and those in cities up to 30 kilometers from their homes. Calandra and the Department of Long-Term Care, however, say conversations with stakeholders about specific regulations are ongoing and will be presented to the legislature within a week of Bill 7 receiving Royal Assent. “The situation in our hospitals and acute care requires action,” Jake Roseman, a spokesman for the department, said in an email. “The Minister is committed to consulting with stakeholders, including LTC homes, associations of LTC home and resident councils and family councils, as well as health system planning and service delivery bodies.” Ahead of Monday’s NDP event, the government also sent out a press release to the media, highlighting instances where the party’s MPPs have raised concerns about patients awaiting long-term hospitalization who remain in hospitals for extended periods. “The NDP has always played politics when it comes to health care in Ontario. But now it’s clear they are also hypocrites who say no for the sake of saying no,” the release said.
