QUEEN’S PARK – During Question Period, MPP Catherine Fife asked the Liberal government why seniors who require long-term care in Waterloo Region are being separated from their partners.
“Colleen Brown was admitted to Sunnyside long-term care in February due to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. [Her husband], Jim, remains on a waiting list, separated from his partner of 40 years,” said Fife. “Their family says that ‘to live with your loved one is to live with dignity.’ Seniors in Ontario should be able to live in dignity.”
Over the last 14 years of this Liberal government, the waiting list for long-term beds in Ontario has grown to 25,000 people. In Waterloo-Wellington, 2,600 people are on the long-term care waiting list.
“Jim’s family have tried contacting the Minister of Health but they haven’t received a response. That’s just not good enough,” said Fife. “Jim is [now] on the crisis waiting list but he and Colleen remain separated. Kathy McAlister, Jim’s daughter, has said it’s ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘cruel’”
“This government hasn’t done enough to address the shortage of long-term care beds in Ontario and their 2017 budget will do nothing to get those people who are waiting into the care they need,” said Fife.