PCs say no to NDP motion for 2,000 new long-term care beds in eastern GTA

Ontario's NDP is calling on the province to add 2,000 long-term beds to Scarborough, Whitby and Oshawa, saying families there are struggling to find care for their loved ones.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the Central East Local Health Integration Network, which covers Scarborough, Whitby and Oshawa, has some of the longest wait lists in Ontario. The province's local health integration networks (LHINs) plan, fund and coordinate the services of local health services providers.

One in five people on waiting lists for long-term care in Ontario, or 20 per cent, are in the Central East LHIN, she said.

Horwath tabled a motion at the Ontario legislature on Monday to make the request for the beds in the 2019-2020 provincial budget, which she said would be the first step in tackling wait lines across the province. 

But the Conservatives blocked the motion.

"Today, the Ford Conservatives shut the door on thousands of families with loved ones who need and are waiting for long-term care in Oshawa, Whitby and Scarborough," Horwath said in a statement Monday night.

More beds would mean construction: NDP

She said the motion called for a not-for-profit investment and it would mean construction of new facilities to house the beds.

"You can't get through this without new construction. There's no way to accommodate folks without having new units built. And they have to be units that are of today's standard," she said.

Horwath said the NDP will continue to listen to families and give hope that their aging parents will get the quality care they deserve, when they need it.

Along with Oshawa NDP MPP Jennifer French, Horwath visited the home of an Oshawa family, the Mills, on Monday to announce the motion. 

Horwath said Steve and Annette Mills are the main caregivers of Steve's father, Walter Mills, 91, who has severe dementia. Walter Mills has been on a wait list for long-term care for three years, she said.

"This region, particularly, is very under-serviced with long-term care. It is desperately in need of new beds," she told reporters on Monday. "Demand is high across the province but particularly high in this area."

Horwath said Walter Mills, and thousands of seniors like him, are waiting for the "safe, dignified care" they need and deserve.

Wait times hard on caregivers, NDP says

Wait times take their toll, she added, because family members caring for loved ones with dementia often don't sleep through the night because their loved ones wander.

"They don't have a moment of peace during the day because their loved ones have such intense needs. And they struggle to see light at the end of the tunnel because there are still hundreds or even thousands of people in front of them on the waiting lists," she said in a news release.

Horwath said the government needs to make long-term care beds a priority.

"What we want is a commitment from the government to build the beds," she said.

"We have to do better. When our parents and grandparents need safe, quality long-term care, they deserve a space in a home that can care for them, not a spot on a mile-long wait list."

She said the Doug Ford government has promised only a fraction of the beds required to meet growing needs and has warned of cuts across the board.

Horwath has been calling for a public inquiry into the state of long-term care in Ontario, saying thousands of additional long-term care beds are needed to get seniors the care they need.

"Here we are with a crisis in long-term care that's not been addressed," she said.

Health minister says promise has been made

When asked about the issue in Question Period on Monday, Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province has announced the creation of more than 6,000 long-term beds and that it will provide 15,000 beds within five years.

But she said the government has to be careful with its resources. "They don't all have to be bricks-and-mortar beds," she said.

When pressed further, Elliott said the government is committed to providing long-term care.

"It will not take five years for those 6,000 beds to come online. But we have promised 15,000, and we will deliver 15,000," she said.

"The fact is, because there are over 30,000 people waiting for long-term-care beds, we have to be innovative. We have to think outside the box. We have to make sure that we can find those beds for those people, because they deserve it. They deserve it, and the people of Ontario expect us to provide that, and we will."