OTTAWA – An operational review of the Ottawa Community Care Access Centre will be run by the same people who are the subject of the review and shuts out the home care users and caregivers who know the most about home care, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says.
“It is absolutely and unquestionably corrupt to have the Board Chair and the Executive Director of the CCAC helping to guide this review when the purpose of the review is to examine the operations that they are in charge of managing,” said OPSEU President Leah Casselman. “It’s like putting Alfonso Gagliano on the committee to look into the federal
sponsorship scandal.
“This review will never get to the bottom of what’s wrong at the Ottawa CCAC as long as these people are running the show while the ones who really know what’s happening – home care users and their caregivers – are shut out.”
Ontario Health and Long Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced the operational review in March after complaints of sharp decreases in home care services in Ottawa.
On April 1, the CCAC terminated the contract of the existing provider of therapy services, causing the layoff of 67 professional therapists, and hired two companies – neither of whom employed any therapists in Ottawa – to take over home therapy.
Ottawa CCAC Chair Graham Bird is a golfing buddy of one of the winning bidders, Casselman said.
“Competitive bidding is fundamentally flawed as a way to provide home care services,” said Casselman. “It is utterly offensive to put the people who have engineered the chaos in Ottawa home care in charge of investigating themselves and their own odious actions.
“We are calling on the Minister to revisit the membership of this cozy Advisory Committee and create the fair and transparent review he promised.”
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For more information:
Dave Calvert (613) 296-6503
