QUEEN’S PARK – Today, the Ontario government released its regulations for Bill 7, signalling just how far they are willing to go to send hospital patients to a long-term care home, that may be far away from the people most important to them in their lives.
The regulations state that hospital patients can be sent to a long-term care home as far as 70 kilometres away from their home, family and support networks. In Northern Ontario, Doug Ford is willing to send patients even further, up to and beyond 150 kilometres.
“These regulations show what we already knew – that Bill 7 will hurt more than it helps,” said MPP Fraser, Interim Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. “The greater the distance you separate families, the greater the hardship.”
But Doug Ford hasn’t stopped there. The government is also authorizing hospitals to charge patients $400 per day if they refuse to leave their families behind, at the time when they need their support the most.
“Today is a sad day for patients,” said Dr. Adil Shamji, MPP for Don Valley East. “Because of this government’s failure to manage the pandemic, patients will be sent to far away long-term care homes under the threat of a $400 per day fine.”
Ontario Liberals have put forward a motion to limit the amount patients can be charged to be equal to the co-pay in long-term care.
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