Long-Term Care in Ontario
[According to a press release from the New Democratic Party of Ontario, dated 27 January 1999,] the provincial government recently announced the introduction of 20,000 new long-term care beds. These beds will not start to become available until after 2000, 5 years after cutting $800 million from hospital budgets. All new beds will not be in place until at least 2006.
About 70% of the awarded long-term care contracts have gone to private, for-profit companies. One of these - CPL Long Term Care Real Estate Investment Trust (already the largest nursing home owner/operator in Canada) - has been awarded more than any other. Of 320 new long-term care beds announced for Ottawa-Carleton, 50 were awarded to the Regional Municipality: the rest went to 2 private, for-profit companies: OMNI Health Care Limited and Central Care Corporation. All 150 new beds announced for Simcoe went to a private, for-profit operator.
Under the previous administration, the number of people in Ontario receiving long-term care service in their own homes grew by 45%, received an additional 1.4 million home care visits and 2.5 million homemaking hours.
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