October 5th, 2022
October 5th, 2022
NIAGARA FALLS — Wayne Gates, NDP critic for Long Term Care, Home Care and Retirement Homes, responded to Minister Paul Calandra’s re-announcement of limited funds for nurse practitioners in nursing homes with the following statement:
“We have a nursing shortage, and the Conservative government’s re-announcement doesn’t do a thing to attract or retain even one new nurse. We need incentives and better pay to attract nurses to these jobs. Even if nursing homes could magically convince nurses to sign up without incentives or improved pay, the Conservatives would only be giving a fraction of Ontario’s nursing homes funding, and it would cover just one extra staff member. The majority of nursing homes will get nothing.
Seniors and people with disabilities are living in brutally understaffed homes, and can have a pretty poor quality of life because of that. Why won’t this government treat our parents and grandparents with the respect and care they deserve?
Every single person living in long-term care should be getting a bare minimum of four hours of hands on care each day — not an average, but a per-person bare minimum. With Premier Doug Ford and part-time Long Term Care Minister Paul Calandra in charge, and Bill 124 still driving nurses away, we are miles away from that goal.”