Defend Public Healthcare

Yesterday, I noted that the Ontario Hospital Association and the Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres have now (very mildly) weighed in and noted that some of the alternative level of care  (ALC) patients are, in fact, waiting for "institutional" (i.e. hospital) services, particularly in the area of rehabilitation and complex continuing care. This, of course, is quite true -- more ALC patients are waiting for rehabilitation and complex continuing care  than other sorts of care  (except, of course, for long term care, which has masses of patients waiting for a bed). In fact the backlogs in these two areas represent a fairly high portion of total existing capacity.  About 327 ALC patients are waiting for rehabilitation -- that's equivalent to 14.1% of the total number of rehabilitation beds in the province (2,322).  Another 266 patients are awaiting complex continuing care, equivalent to 4.6% of the total number of complex continuing care beds (5,79

Ontario's for profit long term care homes see gold in them thar hills! Not satisfied with their LTC gig, now the OLTCA wants "to take those hospital acute-care patients who may do better in a “more home-like” environment." And it get's better: "Over time and with the right per-diem funding, (OLTCA president) Cormack suggests, long-term care could also serve well people with chronic conditions who are now in hospitals’ complex continuing care units." What's next? Emergency Rooms? ICUs? As predicted, the government's attempt to shrink public hospitals (and public health care) is a growth opportunity for the profit takers. dallan@cupe.ca Long-term care can be a restorative, transitional service provider -- June 30, 2010 -- OLTCA Morning Report