📢Long-Term Care Outbreaks
Oct 12, the Ontario COVID-19 website reported 152 active outbreaks with 1,526 active resident cases & 480 active staff cases. 11 #LTC residents died that day
Deaths in Ontario’s #LTC homes for the week:
Oct 12: 11 deaths
Oct 11: 1 death
Oct 10: 1 death
Oct 9: Missing
Oct 8: 10 deaths
Oct 7: 4 deaths
Oct 6: 9 deaths
Deaths in ON are at a new height not seen since May & LTC residents still make up a sign. portion cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
Ministry of LTC data has always been lower than Public Health Data (which stopped reporting detailed breakdowns).
This is still true:
Oct 8: 152 LTC Outbreaks according to Ministry of LTC
Oct 8: 161 LTC Outbreaks according to @PublicHealthON
This may be the last update with reliable info
Oct 14: Ministry of LTC issued guidance that:
▫️limits testing to residents w symptoms
▫️removes testing on admission
▫️changes outbreak definition to >2 residents w epi-link
▫️Staff cases will not count
The Ford gov't has made claims about the new LTC Bill, which gives new powers to force the elderly and persons with disabilities/chronic illness who are waiting in hospitals into long-term care homes against their choice, that do not accord with the facts.
Fact Check Thread ⬇️
1. There are 38,000 people waiting for a LTC home in Ontario. The reason that there are Alternate Level of Care (ALC) patients in hospitals waiting for LTC is the LTC wait list. The only LTC homes that do not have long waiting lists are those to which people do not want to go.
2. Many people are frightened to go to homes which have histories of poor compliance with the law and poor outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the homes that have spaces into which patients could be forced.
@fordnation limits debate & removes public hearings to push through Bill 7 @fordnation passed a motion to limit the debate of Bill 7 & allows Second & Third Reading to happen on the same day. Bill 7 allows the gov't to start the process to push seniors into #LTC w/o consent 1/4
The motion limits debate in the Leg to just 2 hrs for 2nd Reading and 2 hrs for 3rd Reading & they can pass both readings in 1 day
They have advised that they will not be holding public hearings. This is undemocratic & is a blatant attempt to trample on seniors' rights 2/4
Bill 7 pushes our most vulnerable into #LTC homes that may be far away, in staffing crisis, culturally inapp. &/or have horrendous records.
Holding public hearings is the normal process. We asked our members & supporters to apply for standing to speak out against this Bill 3/4
Just reading the @TorontoStar article that frames the entire issue of contravention the right to consent for elderly patient from @fordnation's claims, makes some bizarre assertions and does not interview a single patient advocate to check the truth.> #onpoli @robferguson1
The odious (and false) title?
"Ford government pushes hospitals to bill patients who won’t leave when cleared for long-term care"
Seriously.
That is a horrible way to characterize what is happening to elderly patients.
📢 @OntarioHealthC Assembly & Conference
📅Sat Oct 1 & Sun Oct 2
🏢Central YMCA Toronto
With new plans to privatize health care in Ontario, one of the most important fights to defend Public Medicare in decades is happening now. Join us to build the fightback.
Pls share widely
All who believe in Public Medicare who want to work to defend & improve it are welcome. Join us for briefings, speakers, report-ins & strategizing.
Central YMCA - 20 Grosvenor St, Toronto
Sat Oct 1 10:30 - 4:30 PM
Sun Oct 2 9:00 - 1:30 PM
We've investigated the issue of fees for lab tests.
Bottom line? While it is true the Ford government is privatizing a whole bunch of health care services, they did not recently delist a slew of blood tests.
This is what's happening>>
1/9
Some tests aren't covered by OHIP because they aren't medically necessary. Now, arguably some things that aren't covered should be covered. So we've compiled a list of tests for which Ontarians are paying to see what the evidence is. But this is not a new cut done by Ford. > 2/9
In 2019 (effective 2020) they made changes to two tests. They've been trying to switch the AST with the ALT test as a result of a question of medical effectiveness. The ALT test is covered. The AST is only covered under the following criteria. 3/9