Huron Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson says residents in rural Ontario need improved access to long-term care beds.
Lisa Thompson used Question Period on Thursday to point out that the lack of beds in the region forces people to take the first bed available, which could be hours away from their loved ones.
She says people need love and support from their families, not isolation.
The Southwest LHIN reports that in Huron and Bruce Counties, less than five beds become available each month at long-term care facilities, while wait lists grow.
"People live healthier, happier lives when they have the love, care and support of family and friends close by. Many people entering long-term care are normally doing so because their health has deteriorated, and removing those supports does nothing to help improve their condition," concluded Thompson.
Bruce Grey Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker adds the province needs a capacity plan for long-term care beds.
He says 32,000 seniors are on a waiting list, which is expected to grow to 50,000 in just a few years.
He says the recent announcement from the health minister promising 5,000 new beds by 2022 does not change the situation for those people in need of a bed. And he says there is no capacity plan to outline where those beds will go.
He says the lack of detail erodes any confidence residents can have in the plan.
MPP Walker says the Liberals’ broke a promise from 2007 that they would redevelop 35,000 outdated nursing beds. Only about a third of the promised beds have been completed to-date.
“It’s a little bit concerning that six months before an election, the government says it’s now going to miraculously build all these beds, in spite of failing to deliver them over their last 14 years in power," he says.