Re:Smitherman assailed for offer
to don diaper
Feb. 28
In 2003, Health Minister George Smitherman wept at what older adults were having to endure in Ontario's long-term care facilities. Yet today, when the union representing the staff who care for older adults is reporting people are being left in filthy diapers, Smitherman responds by saying he intends to wear a diaper himself to see if they are adequate for residents.
From tears in 2003 to quips in 2008. It gives you confidence, does it not, to see how the person responsible for the funding, regulation and enforcement of quality of care in nursing homes views this.
Since Smitherman claims to be so concerned about these residents, perhaps he should consider going the next step – donning his diaper and heading over to one of the nursing homes his inspectors have cited for numerous unaddressed care violations, and spending a couple of nights there. I doubt very much that he would be making any more specious comments.
Dare we hope that this might finally convince the government to provide funding to keep people at home, or provide small, non-profit residences for them in their own communities?
Patricia Spindel, Toronto
While the recent issue of incontinence products for residents in long-term care facilities is a disturbing matter, we need to understand that abuse and neglect of nursing home residents has been going on in Ontario for decades.
What this childish show-and-tell episode by the health minister has done is take away the focus from the failings of the government to properly hold nursing homes accountable for the subhuman treatment and deplorable conditions that many residents endure.
It has an obligation to protect residents and to issue the most stringent sanctions to those facilities that repeatedly do not meet provincial standards. There can no longer be any excuse for ministry personnel to pander to facilities through an ineffective compliance model, when inspection reports and unusual-occurrence documents clearly show the lives of institutionalized residents are at risk.
Ellen Watson, Aurora
Health Minister George Smitherman's comments reveal a complete lack of comprehension. The issue is not the absorbency of adult diapers; the issue is the lack of care that the people who worked their whole lives to build our province are receiving in their last days.
Yet instead of promising to improve their living conditions, Smitherman engages in polemics about adult diapers. The Liberals have done precious little to improve the situation in Ontario's nursing homes, and both they and those who elected them have reason to be ashamed.
Orest Zakydalsky, Toronto
I could always count on the NDP, and MPP Peter Kormos in particular, for their usual left-wing bombast. So imagine my shock when Kormos made perfect sense calling George Smitherman a "damned embarrassment" and urging him to apologize to the 77,000 residents of nursing homes in Ontario and their families for a cheap publicity stunt.
Rob West, Toronto
The diaper dialogue is definitely about staffing levels, not diaper technology. However, when George Smitherman sits in his "loaded" diaper for 24 hours, he will see that the issue is also about human worth and dignity. When he has accomplished this feat (preferably at home), I know he will "have the right policy for Ontarians."
Lynn McDonald, Scientific Director,
National Initiative for the Care of the
Elderly, Toronto
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