The Ford government says it’s bringing forth new legislation to improve the well-being of residents in long-term care and retirement homes and ensure they get the care they deserve.
Ontario’s Minister of Long Term Care Rod Phillips introduced the Providing More Care, Protecting Seniors, and Building More Beds Act at Queen’s Park on Thursday.
The new act rests on three pillars according to Phillips, staffing and care; accountability, enforcement, and transparency; and building modern, safe, comfortable homes for seniors.
If it passes, Phillips says the act would repeal the current Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 and create the Fixing Long-Term Care Act.
The act would help establish the commitment to provide an average of four hours of daily direct care per resident per day by March 31, 2025; strengthen the Residents’ Bill of Rights to align with the Ontario Human Rights Code and recognize the role caregivers play in resident health and well-being; implement new requirements for annual resident, family, and caregiver surveys; establish new compliance and enforcement tools, including doubling the fines on the conviction of certain offences.
The legislative changes would also extend to the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 that would, if passed, increase transparency and promote consumer choice and resident protection.
Written by Mo Fahim
