Thank you for your patience! 0n background, l'm not sure what you're referring to about funding cuts to
longrterm care. curgovernment hasn't cut funding to longsterm care.

With respect to your questions, please seethe below attributed to the Ministry of Lonngerm Care:

Statement:

What has occurred in our longrterm care homes is tragic. We send our condolences to everyone
affected -- residents, theirfamilies, and staff, and we want to thank every frontrl'lne health care worker
and staff member at longrterm care homes across the province for their ongoing dedication and support
during this unprecedented time.

covmem has created unprecedented challenges in the health and langsterm care sectors around the
world. We are learning more every day from the challenges posed by this virus, and have much to
considerto shore up cracks in the system that have been building for decades. We need to rebuild a
system that works in the best interest of residents and the people that work so hard to keep them safe.

Independent Commission:

In July the government announced that it is launching an independent commission to determine the
impact of comma on longrterm care homes in Ontario. The challenges langrterm care homes have
faced during this pandemic are not unique to Ontario yetwe are the firstiurisdiction in North America
to voluntarily and proactively launch this kind of review. The commission will investigate how covmem
spread within longrterm care homes, how residents, staff, families were impacted, and the adequacy of
measures taken by the province and other parties to prevent, isolate and contain the spread. Above all,
the commission will provide guidance on how to better protect langrterm care home residents and staff
from any future outbreaks.

Inspections:

ln Ontario, while the Ministry of LangsTerm Care provides regulatory oversight of longrterm care homes
through the LongsTerm Care Act, these homes are independently run and operated and oversee their
own staffing.

The Ministry of Lonngerm Care inspectors conduct inspections to ensure that longrterm care homes are
safe and wellroperated, and are meeting all the requirements in the Act and Regulation. Our inspections
continueto be the most rigorous in Canada. As recommended by Ontario's Auditor General, the ministry
uses a inspection framework, which prioritizes issues and homes based on risk, so that homes
with complaints, critical incidents, a history of nonrcompl'lance and other risk factors are prioritized and

are subject to extended inspections. The previous RQI process resulted in a backlog of more than 8,000
intakes, meaning time sensitive complaints and critical incidents were not getting the immediate
attention they require. By moving to a risk-based model, we were able to clear the backlog and can now
respond to urgent concerns in a timely manner while still conducting proactive inspections as required.
Beyond this, every single long-term care home in Ontario gets inspected at least once a year; in 2019 the
ministry conducted 2,882 inspections across 626 homes. There are 31 inspection protocols including a
protocol on infection prevention and control.
After an inspection is completed, the Ministry will set up regular status calls, monitoring,
and unannounced in-person follow up inspections with the home. Results of these and all other
inspections are posted on the Ministry website. Working with hospital and other partners, each of these
homes will be required to submit a plan for the Ministry that details how they intend to return to
acceptable levels of care immediately.
Allegations such as the ones contained in the Canadian Armed Forces report triggers the Ministry of
Long-Term Care to share its findings with other agencies which may result in:
 Police investigations and potential criminal charges;
 Ministry of Labour inspections into worker health and safety, given the lack of training observed;
 Public health inspections into food preparation, etc.; and
 Referrals to professional colleges for practice standard violations, medication management and
care observations.
Funding:
The government is investing a historic $1.75 billion for the development of badly-needed new long-term
care capacity and redevelopment of aging homes to modern design standards. As we speak, projects are
underway that represent nearly 8,000 new long-term care beds and 12,000 beds to be redeveloped.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care has also issued emergency orders, amended regulations, and made
commitments totaling $517 million so homes have the flexibility and funding to shore up frontline
staffing during the pandemic. In addition, the ministry has invested $321 million to implement
temporary pandemic pay for staff in long-term care homes.
Staffing:
The staffing concerns that have been amplified during this pandemic speak to the serious shortage of
long-term care staff available province-wide. The government created a standalone Ministry of LongTerm Care in the summer of 2019 specifically to repair and rebuild the long-term care sector, and to
bring it into the 21st century. Since that time, we have been working hard to create a roadmap to grow
and better support our heroic workforce, as well as build new capacity, bring out-of-date homes across
all home types up to modern design standards.
The ministry is working on a comprehensive staffing strategy for the sector and has committed to these
staffing-related investments:
 A $61.25 million increase in funding to further support the maintenance of direct care services
and other operating costs.
 $8.4 million investment to extend the High Wage Transition Fund (HWTF) initiative until
December 31, 2020 while the Ministry develops a comprehensive staffing strategy.

 The ministry has also committed to a trainingfund that will provide 510 million to support langrterm
care staff.

Other Measures:

Hospitals across Ontario have deployed teams to homes to support them in infection prevention and
control and to help maintain staffing levels.

To support essential workers in all settings, Ontario continues to provide samecday deliveries of
personal protective equipment to longcterm care homes as well as retirement homes, hospitals and
otherfacilities.

These measures the ministry is taking ensure that longrterm care homes can:

0 Have the flexibility and funds to create emergency bed capacity

0 Rapidly hire nurses and other frontline staff they need, when they need them

0 Obtain protective equipment and other supplies as needed to align with infection control
guidelines and best practices

0 Restrict movement of staff between homes and other healthcare settings to limit the spread
ofthe virus

0 lmplement minor capital renovations for lnfection Prevention and Control 

0 lmplement immediate measures in homes to increase sector expertise in IPAC through the
use oftraining and hiring of professionals

The government has also taken measures to:
lntroduce testing and screening of both residents and staff
0 Partnerwith hospitals to support homes with medical expertise in lnfection Prevention and

Control

0 Enable hospitals to deploy health professionals to homes experiencing critical staffing
shortages

0 Limit the admission of residents to ward rooms where any outbreak is more difficult to
contain

The ministry continues to rely on the scientific advice ofthe Chief Medical Officer of health and other
public health experts to guide decis'lanrmakingm help keep residents and staff safe as thisvirus evolves.
The government will be releasing a comprehensive fall preparedness plan shortly, which will address a
number of issues including ensuring our longcterm care homes are prepared to deal with a potential
second wave. Langcterm care is a huge priority for ourgovernment and every option is on the table to
make it better. We are forging ahead with the critical work we had underway before this pandemic hit
as we undertake transformation.