The Editor
(Letters to the Editor)
Ottawa Citizen
Dear Editor:
I have just finished reading the 322 page final report of the Ontario Long Term Care COVID19 Commission final report and am angered by the negligence of the provincial government that this document so clearly describes.
The public expectation (acknowledged by the Commission) is that there is strong government regulatory oversight and enforcement in a government-funded sector responsible for taking care of seniors who are unable to live independently.
Unfortunately, the provincial government failed here. The report shows it had no plan to deal with this pandemic and was unprepared, despite many warnings from the 2003 SARS experience. The report describes government oversight and enforcement in this sector as weak and ineffective. The Ministry of LTC did not know the the status of infection prevention and control practices in the 636 LTC homes it supervised, nor the level of staffing, nor the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) in these homes. Communication was confused, slow, and reactive.
As a consequence some 4,000 seniors in long term care--30% of LTC residents in Ontario--died. As the report makes clear, many of these deaths were avoidable. The failure of this government, the Ford government, to discharge its duty here is inexcusable. They cannot be re-elected.
--Alex Cullen
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