The leader of Ontario’s NDP Party is promising to help Durham families struggling to find long-term health care for their loved ones.
At a campaign stop in Whitby on Thursday, Andrea Horwath announced that she wants to create 1,500 new long-term care beds in the town as well as in Oshawa.
“The clear reality is we have a crisis in long-term care,” said Horwath.
In the Central East Local Health Integration Network, which includes Durham Region, there are more than 10,000 people waiting to get into a home, and this is higher than the total number of beds.
Lance Livingstone from the Durham Health Coalition stood next to Horwath while she made the announcement, as the shortage issue hits close to home for him. His 85-year-old mother, Mary Livingstone, needs around-the-clock care and has been wait-listed.
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Livingstone says she is staying at Lakeridge Health while he tries to find an available bed for her. “She needs one now, so she’s going to have to go into a place she can barely afford,” he said. “It’s more than what she brings in a month, so she has… to dip into her savings to be able to live.”
The Ontario Health Coalition says Livingstone is among the 34,000 Ontarians waiting for a bed.
Horwath is hoping to add 15,000 new beds across the province within the next five years and 40,000 throughout the next decade.
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