OPSEU delivers important message on Bill 21: An Act to Regulate Retirement

OPSEU delivers important message to MPPs: don’t use Bill 21 – an Act to Regulate Retirement Homes – to turn retirement homes into nursing homes.

Speaking to a legislative committee studying the issue at Queen’s Park on May 10,  Region 5 vice-president Nancy Pridham, and long-term care chair, Joan White, told MPPs that Bill 21 contains several shortcomings that must be addressed before becoming law.

Sisters Pridham and White made the following points to committee members:

• Avoid using retirement homes as nursing homes. If retirement homes need to dedicate some beds for Alternate Living Care (ALC) patients then they should dedicate a section of their facility to this function and this portion would be governed under Bill 140, an Act to Regulate Long-term Care Homes.

• Avoid self-regulation. Most retirement homes are operated by large, multinational chains and self-regulation is an invitation for these corporations to cut costs in order to boost profits.

• Licenses should be issued to individual retirement homes within a chain and not issued to cover an entire chain. By doing so, poorly-operated locations will be subject to enforcement of regulations.

• Bill 21 must be strengthened to address issues of residents’ rights, care and safety and to ensure enforcement of regulations.

To read OPSEU’s submission to the committee, click here