Says pandemic response didn't protect residents
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates says the province needs to acknowledge whether mistakes were made in long-term care homes during the start of the pandemic.
Yesterday, he questioned new Long Term Care Minister Stan Cho, after a report from Ontario's Ombudsman found there weren't any inspections at homes for the first seven weeks of the pandemic.
"The report found the government failed seniors, their families and workers. That the government had no plans for how inspections would be carried out during the pandemic, including...you cut inspections prior to the pandemic, and that your minister didn't provide with the necessary training or protective equipment to inspect the homes and enforce the basic standards."
Cho has said the province has accepted the recommendations in the report, and is starting to make progress on over half of them.
Gates also grilled him on staffing in long-term care homes.
"I'm telling you, staffing is the problem with this thing. You can invest all you want you could put all the beds you want in these long-term care facilities, but you know what? If you don't have staffing, you know what they are? It's just furniture my friend."
Earlier this year, Premier Doug Ford touted the province's recent investments in nursing education, saying there were 30,000 nurses in the province's colleges and universities training to work in the field.
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