Advocacy groups for seniors and public health care have filed a court challenge of Ontario legislation that allows crowded hospitals to force some elderly patients to accept places at nursing homes without their consent – or face $400-a-day fines.
The legal filing says the legislation would likely see patients sent to homes “where they will be less likely to receive the treatment and care they require, and in consequence they will experience increased suffering and a hastening of death.”against Ontario’s legislation, known as Bill 7, are holding a news conference on Thursday at Queen’s Park to outline their case, which includes affidavits from medical experts.
The government has said its legislation was needed to move thousands of what are known as ALC or “alternative level of care” patients out of overcrowded hospitals. These patients are often elderly people who no longer need hospital care but are on a waiting list for a nursing home. Bill 7 gave hospitals the power to enroll them in another home, without their consent – although the government said attempts would be made to gain the consent of patients.
Critics had warned the new bill could see elderly people sent to homes many kilometres from their families, concerns Mr. Calandra at first dismissed as fearmongering. But he later confirmed patients could be sent to homes within a 70-kilometre radius in Southern Ontario, and a 150-kilometre radius in Northern Ontario, while facing $400-a-day fees for refusing to leave hospitals.
Hospital beds are at a premium and people who don't need them should not occupy them. This problem is a result of those who like big government. If you don't understand this, I'm not going to explain it!