Following the COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing home in the City of Kawartha Lakes and the roof leak and subsequent months-long evacuation of Highland Wood in Haliburton, a group of concerned citizens has come together to advocate for change in the sector.
The Haliburton-CKL Long-Term Care Coalition is seeking action to improve living standards for residents of long-term care homes and improving working conditions for staff, with a resident-centred approach. They are also advocating that new nursing homes be public, not private, facilities.
A launch event for the coalition will be held in the coming weeks and the group is currently looking at how to move forward with their goals, coordinating with other groups and organized labour.
Those who would like to join the group can contact Bonnie Roe at 705-286-2414 or email hckllongtermcarecoalition@gmail.com. Join the coalition’s Facebook group by searching Haliburton-CKL Long-Term Care Coalition.
The Haliburton-CKL Long-Term Care Coalition is focused on action and determined to work to:
• include long-term care under the Canada Health Act to ensure public funding and apply national standards;
• implement the recommendations of the Registered Nursing Association of Ontario, including increasing staffing to ensure at least four hours per day of direct care per resident; improving workloads, working conditions, and conditions for care; increasing infection prevention and control and nurse practitioner expertise in care; and enhancing specialized (e.g. geriatric) expertise in LTC leadership;
• change the culture of long-term care to being more resident-centred and rights-based, including ensuring consistent implementation and safe expansion of the government of Ontario’s long-term care essential care giver (visitor) guidelines; and
• cease using private sector, for-profit companies for new nursing homes in Ontario, and consider using other models of care for our older adults such as the “butterfly” model.
From a media release provided by the
Haliburton-CKL Long-Term Care Coalition
