The Province is moving to take over management of the five GTA long term care (LTC) homes which were the subject of a scathing military report.
Today Premier Doug Ford said the Canadian Armed Forces have agreed to stay on at the homes until at least June 12th.
Effective immediately, Ontario is taking over management of Eatonville Care, Hawthorn Place, Altamont Care, Orchard Villa and Camilla Care.
The Premier today again suggested his government inherited a problem-plagued LTC system when it assumed office.
“The heads should have been rolling for decades down here and they weren’t rolling,” said Ford. “And we’re gonna fix this problem.”
The Province will also deploy six teams of two inspectors to each of the privately owned homes.
Rigorous inspection and monitoring will be undertaken by them for the next two weeks.
One inspector will even stay at one home 24-hrs-a-day throughout that time and conduct in-depth interviews, then report back with their findings.
As well, over the next 21 days, inspections will happen at other homes which face the greatest brunt of Covid-19 challenges currently.
Random spot checks will occur too at other LTC homes across Ontario, added Ford.
The Premier says he’s fully-prepared to pull licences, shut down facilities and take over more homes if necessary.
Ford says he’s expediting the establishment of a commission to get to the bottom of the problems that will be independent of the government with witnesses and public hearings.
“Because our seniors and their families deserve nothing less,” he said.
Today we took further action to protect our seniors in long-term care homes including starting the process to take over management of 5 homes, ramping up inspections of other high-risk homes, and adding increased random spot checks across the province. https://t.co/dzzF1e69PO pic.twitter.com/olc24eT3Zf
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) May 27, 2020
To watch Premier Doug Ford’s full May 27th address, see below.
https://www.facebook.com/FordNationDougFord/videos/879974179080729/