A local New Democrat MPP is calling on the provincial government to create more assisted-living housing for physically disabled adults who are stuck on long waiting lists.
London West MPP Peggy Sattler says the limited access to residential care for people with complex needs in Ontario is a crisis. She made the remarks during a news conference outside of Participation House on Southdale Rd. on Friday.
Sattler was joined by family members of four physically disabled Londoners who are currently living in hospitals or with aging parents.
"These are families at the end of their rope. They have tried everything," said Sattler. "They told me they have met with the CEO of the Southwest LIHN, they have met with the patient ombudsman, they have sent letters to their MPP Deb Matthews, to the Minister of Health, they are desperate. We need to do something about this to enable more people who have suffered stroke, who have acquired brain injury, to be able to live with dignity in the kind of housing they deserve."
Jin Cha, whose 48-year-old brother Alex was born with cerebral palsy and is near paraplegic, said her aging mother has cared for Alex his entire life, but due to her own health issues can no longer do so. She said her brother has been on the Participation House waiting list for 12 years.
"Alex is still waiting. Our family was told to pick nursing homes for a 48-year-old young man. It is unacceptable," said Cha. "He is medically fragile. His needs are complex and a nursing home would not be able to take care for him in the way that he needs. His mental and emotional needs will be harmed in that environment."
Cha said her brother has told her he would rather seek medical assisted suicide than be forced to live in a nursing home at such a young age.
Those feelings are echoed by 51-year-old Shawn Eyre, who has spent the last six years living at Parkwood Hospital. He ended up there after a stroke in May 2011 left him paralyzed.
"Without living in assisted-living, (Shawn's) day-to-day life is literally getting lifted out of his bed into his wheelchair, where he watches TV all day and may get taken out for 15 minutes of speech therapy and he's put back in his bed at night," said Tanya Dallaire, Eyre's sister. "He's not sick. He's disabled and he needs to be in a home."
Eyre, who communicates through a computer attached to his wheelchair, told those at Friday's news conference "I would love to be a part of the community again, which Participation House offers, and put Parkwood behind me."
"My brother's mental capacity is as good as you and I. He's just stuck in a body right now that doesn't work. He's a very vibrant, laughable, normal person," said Dallaire, pointing out Eyre's Green Day t-shirt, which he got earlier this week when a friend took him to a concert.
Currently, 60 people are on the waiting list for the 40 Participation House assisted living residential spaces available for the Southwest LHIN.
"Hospitalizing these people is expensive and also inhumane. We are calling on the government to do something to address this problem. The government has introduced legislation called Patients First. These are people whose needs should be included in that philosophy," said Sattler.