March 21, 2024
In Homecare, For-Profit delivery leads to Public Pains
QUEEN’S PARK – France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt rose in the legislature to share the challenges Nickel Belt constituents face accessing Ontario’s homecare.
“This morning, I want to share examples from my riding of why privatization of our health care system is harmful. We all know that when the conservative government of Mike Harris was in power, they privatized our home care system. Private companies were going to make home care work more efficiently, serve more people, offer more care. Now we all know that none of that is true. The privatization of home care made 100s of millions of dollars for private companies’ shareholders with dire repercussions on the people needing care.
Take Tina Senior’s beautiful 6 years old son Alex. Bayshore gets paid 1.5 hours of nursing care daily while Alex is at school, but they only schedule the nurse to be there for 15 minutes. So, his mom Tina a nurse with over 20 years experience at HSN had to quit her job in order to keep her son’s safe.
Mrs. C from Hanmer agreed to take her husband home from the hospital while he awaits placement in a LTC home, with the help of home care services. Of course, home care never shows up when they are supposed to. But get this Speaker, since her daughter mentioned that she would go help her Dad after work. Now the only time Bayshore offers that family care if after 3:00 and since the family refuses care, Bayshore gets paid but no care is provided and this elderly women is completely burned out.
The list goes on, this is what privatization does. Money for share holders and suffering for people needing care”