Ontario: The Ford government is under immense pressure to clarify how a new piece of health-care legislation could affect Ontario families as the hospital patients will be moved to a long-term care facility not of their choosing or potentially face hefty daily charges.
Amid shortage of beds in the health care, the Ontario government recently planned to send seniors admitted to hospitals in northern Ontario to long-term care homes located 300 kilometres away.
The government introduced a bill last week to send patients to long-term care beds located outside of their communities to help stabilize the burdened healthcare system.
The Ford government is also considering bypassing a public hearing to get the bill passed faster.
According to the information, the proposed boundary outside the northern regions is 100 km and the cities are 30 km less. When asked under pressure, the Ford government said that these travel guideline numbers have not yet been set, but this can happen.
The government said discussions are underway in this regard and when the formal announcement of distance will be made, the north direction may not even be included.