Smitherman gets power job
Robert Benzie 83 min. ago
Vulnerable seniors need a voice
Re:No minimum standard for senior
care; Watchdog pushes for
oversight of hospitals
June 18
The provincial government and Health Minister George Smitherman are failing ordinary Ontarians. Taxpayers waited months for the report by health-care expert Shirlee Sharkey, only to learn that the health minister feels more study needs to be done.
Meanwhile, 75,000 nursing-home residents continue to languish and the number of unmet long-term care standards continues to climb.
Smitherman's comment that there are sufficient measures in place would be laughable if it were not so offensive. He cites community governance of hospitals, a provincial auditor general and a 1-800 line for concerns about long-term care facilities as "a regime that is sufficiently powerful for the protection of the public." Families beg to differ. What an insult to those who are struggling each day to ensure their loved ones receive high-quality care.
Ontario Ombudsman André Marin is absolutely right. With the annual health-care budget representing 40 per cent of the province's total spending, it's "unthinkable that this sector isn't subject to the same kind of oversight as the rest of government."
Without swift action to expand the ombudsman's powers to include hospitals and long-term care, this government has abandoned all Ontarians.
Janis Jaffe-White, Co-ordinator, Toronto Family Network, Toronto
Let ombudsman look at hospitals
Editorial, June 18
One must question whose best interests it serves when the Ontario government refuses independent oversight of hospitals and long-term care facilities by Ombudsman André Marin. Families who have experienced nursing-home abuse and neglect of a parent know first-hand that no one is holding these government-funded institutions and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care accountable.
Health Minister George Smitherman believes there is already "a pretty comprehensive regime of accountability." Marin doesn't think so, and neither do countless patients, residents and their families. Families learn the hard way how the system works against them.
The nursing-home industry and the ministry know they are immune from totally independent and unbiased scrutiny by an ombudsman whom the public trusts.
Ellen Watson, Aurora
Let ombudsman investigate
complaints about hospitals
Comment, June 17
My mother had Alzheimer's and died 5 1/2 years ago from a hospital-acquired infection that was not diagnosed when she was treated for a broken bone in her shoulder.
Our family was desperate for answers. We had meetings with hospital officials, called the coroner's office and sent requests to the Ministry of Health but got nowhere. Hospital officials told us that they had "learned" from what happened to my mother, but they concluded that no one at the hospital had done anything wrong.
Ombudsman André Marin is correct when he says that Ontarians need "independent, impartial" investigations.
Donna Patterson, Toronto
No minimum standard
for senior care
June 18
On the off chance that Health Minister George Smitherman is still considering running for mayor of Toronto, he can now be assured that he will not get the seniors' vote. After lambasting the Tories for their poor treatment of patients in nursing homes, it seems that he is no more willing to spend money to ensure seniors get adequate care than was his predecessor.
What is particularly disturbing is this comes just after the government announced it will spend billions of dollars building new nuclear reactors that will saddle us with debts for decades to come.
Our seniors helped to build this province. They deserve quality care when they need it.
Gary Dale, Toronto
Jim Coyle 83 min. ago
If George Smitherman were Premier Dalton McGuinty's son, the boss would probably have ordered him into therapy by now.
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