CORNWALL, Ontario – Hundreds of home-care patients in Cornwall and the eastern counties are caught in a quagmire of service cuts and long waitlists and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario wants to hear from patients affected.
Despite a growing need for home care as more hospital beds and services are eliminated, over a 1,000 vulnerable patients were recently cut off from receiving home care altogether, while others have had their care hours cut by the Champlain Community Care Access Centre (CCAC).
Although there has been considerable public outcry over the service cuts and as a result over 500 people will no longer have their care cut, there are still many people needing home care who are not getting it, CUPE said in a release.
On Friday, at 10 a.m. CUPE Ontario is holding a media conference in Cornwall to announce a hotline for patients to call and recount their home care horror stories.
“It’s clear that even though the provincial government says patients not receiving care in hospitals will be able to access supports at home, the reality is that patients are not getting the care they need. The province is underfunding all aspects of health care including home and community care. We want to hear from patients about how they have been affected,” said CUPE Ontario first vice-president Michael Hurley.
Heather Duff, a community care access centre worker in eastern Ontario, will join Hurley for the media conference Friday at the Royal Canadian Legion at 415 Second Street.
Following home care cuts in the Windsor area and a considerable backlash from the community, the Ontario health recently announced $4.1 million to restore supports for patients who had their home care hours slashed.
