As Ontarians continue to hear nightmare stories about residents stuck in overseas hospitals, politicians and advocacy groups are calling out for change.
Over the last week, the sagas of two London men came to light after they were stuck abroad because local hospitals didn’t have beds available for them.
Larry Dann spent eight days at a Miami hospital waiting for an available bed in his hometown.
Meanwhile, 71-year-old Stuart Cline died in a St. Catharines hospital over the weekend, after spending over a week in Mexico with a brain bleed and heart condition.
“It’s a full-on crisis situation, and our hospitals are running in this situation all the time,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition.
“The responsibility for that falls squarely at the feet of the government and health minister,” she said.
After searching for just 30 minutes on Monday, Mehra found four cases of people in dire health situations who were trapped abroad because there was no bed available back home.
“Sometimes for weeks at a time, several of them died,” she said.
Asked how there can be no open hospital beds, Mehra said hospitals in Ontario are running at capacity.
Premier Kathleen Wynne said there is a breakdown of communication between insurers and the health-care system as they try to return Ontarians home for care.