Long-term care backlog worsening, Opposition charges
August 5, 2010
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ontario’s Opposition says the Liberal government is wasting money on bureaucrats instead of addressing a growing shortage of long-term care beds.
The Progressive Conservatives say the government’s failure to make progress on its aging at home strategy has allowed the wait list for long-term care beds to swell to 24,000 people.
Opposition Leader Tim Hudak says Local Health Integration Networks set up by the Liberals mismanaged the $250-million program that is supposed to help more seniors live at home.
He says the Liberals wasted $200 million on the networks, which the Tories call an unnecessary level of bureaucracy for the government to hide behind when it makes unpopular decisions like laying off nurses.
Hudak promises to scrap the networks and put the money into front-line health services if the Tories win next year’s election.
The New Democrats say the government should scrap competitive bidding for home care contracts, which they say allowed giant U.S. chains to outbid local providers like the Victorian Order of Nurses.
The NDP say the lack of proper home care means more patients wait in hospitals for a long-term care bed, backing up the entire system all the way to the emergency room.
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