Miller backs longterm care beds at Fairvern by Liberals

QUEEN’S PARK — Health care — and particularly longterm care — are certain to be election topics.

MPP Norm Miller lauded the Liberals for their announcement Friday to add 20 longterm care beds at the Fairvern Nursing Home in Huntsville.

So, count on 20 new beds at Fairvern Nursing Home in Huntsville to come up in discussions and debate before the June 7 vote.

Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller is “pleased” to see the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care approve the former hospital’s redevelopment plan on Friday.

The plan includes 20 additional beds and is supported by the Town of Huntsville and the District of Muskoka.

“These beds are badly needed, so I am relieved to see the plan approved,” said Miller in a release from his Queen’s Park office Monday.

He said: “As of the February 2018 Home and Community Care report by the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN, there are 176 people on the waiting list for Fairvern and they are waiting an average of 597 days.”

He also noted his support for this proposal in the legislature in December and that he recently sent a letter to the new Minister of Health reiterating that support.

Provincewide there are 32,000 seniors waiting for a long-term care bed in Ontario now, and that waiting list is expected to increase to 50,000 by 2021.

“Not only are there long wait lists for long-term care beds, there are long waits for home care as well,” said Miller.

“My office has been overwhelmed with complaints about the lack of home care. The recent change of home-care suppliers in our area seems to have made things worse with people who had been receiving regular visits now receiving inconsistent care or no care at all.”

Miller said the lack of long-term care and home care is having a direct impact on hospital overcrowding as patients wait in hospital for a long-term care bed or return to hospital after being released because of a lack of adequate care at home. Alternate level of care (ALC) patients, those waiting for long-term care beds, are occupying beds in hospitals all across Ontario including in Parry Sound-Muskoka.

“Ontario needs to take better care of our seniors both in long-term care and in their homes,” said Miller. “Our seniors deserve to receive the care they need to continue to live comfortably and with dignity.”