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Those keeping track estimate that by 2030 it will nearly double from 4,600 people aged 75 and over to 8,000. Those working in long-term care see the pressure coming. "I think there's a need for more beds across the province," said Norm Quenneville, administrator of Glen-Stor-Dun Lodge. "Cornwall is certainly an area that would benefit."

And yet, the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) is confident no new long-term care beds are needed

In the 2012 auditor general's report, the Champlain region was listed as having the longest median wait times, with 90% of people being placed within 1,100 days.

Cornwall, ON — When compared with the rest of Canada the Ontario government’s $4.8 billion underfunding for hospitals like Cornwall Community, means skeleton hospital staffing and much less care for Cornwall patients, a report released today has found. The report (Fewer Hands, Less Hospital Care) compares funding, staffing, nursing, and readmissions in Ontario and other provinces. Based on the latest figures from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Ontario government funding for hospitals is $1,395.73 per capita. The rest of Canada, excluding Ontario, spends $1,749.69 per capita. In other words, provincial and territorial governments outside of Ontario spend $353.96 more per person on hospitals than Ontario does. That is a whopping 25.3 per cent more than Ontario.

July 06, 2015

CORNWALL, Ontario - The Cornwall mother of a man who was abused while in long-term care wants more regulation for personal support workers who look after her son and others - including seniors - on a daily basis.

CORNWALL, ON – Hundreds of home care patients in Cornwall and the eastern counties are caught in a quagmire of service cuts and long wait lists and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario wants to hear from patients affected. Despite a growing need for home care as more hospital beds and services are eliminated, over a 1000 vulnerable patients were recently cut off from receiving home care altogether, while others have had their care hours cut by the Champlain Community Care Access Centre (CCAC).  Although there has been considerable public outcry over the service cuts and as a result over 500 people will no longer have their care cut, there are still many people needing home care who are not getting it, says CUPE Ontario. On Friday, December 12, (10 a.m.) CUPE Ontario is holding a media conference in Cornwall to announce a 1-888 for patients to call and recount their stories.

CORNWALL, ON – There are hundreds of ill, elderly or socially isolated people in Cornwall and the eastern Ontario counties who need home care but aren’t getting it, said the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario at a Cornwall media conference today.  “We want to hear from patients needing home care. Please call our home care hotline at 1-888-590-0770. Tell us your story,” said CUPE Ontario’s Heather Duff who is also a community care worker.

When the "For Sale" sign went up at the former Cornwall General Hospital late last year, it sparked a community movement to make use of the building "for the common good and social benefit of the area" -- with a particular emphasis on seniors. That has become Mark MacDonald's mantra, shaping the proposal the Concerned Citizens Coalition submitted to the hospital board last month.

It was a common theme heard at the community meetings the coalition has hosted to finalize their offer to purchase the hospital site -- for $1, with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care chipping in the rest of the $2 million price tag ... if the ministry agrees. The fit seemed perfect at first, with the Second Street site hosting 32 assess and restore beds, run by St. Joseph's Continuing Care Centre. These beds have now been wound down, with occupants placed into long-term care if needed, or back at home.

The program has been replaced by Home First, established to help seniors recover at home.

This time, attention was focused on how it was managing out-of-hours GP services in Cornwall, and massive failings that had first surfaced two years before. Again, the verdict was damning: data had been falsified, national standards had not been met, there was a culture of "lying and cheating", and the service offered to the public was simply "not good enough

Amazingly, its contracts with government are subject to what's known as "commercial confidentiality" and as a private firm it's not open to Freedom of Information requests, so looking into the details of what it does is fraught with difficulty.

As evidenced by the story of how it handled out-of-hours care in Cornwall, it is also an increasingly big player in a health service that is being privatised at speed, in the face of surprisingly little public opposition: among its array of NHS contracts is a new role seeing to "community health services" in Suffolk, which involves 1,030 employees. The company is also set to bid for an even bigger healthcare contract in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough: the NHS's single-biggest privatisation – or, if you prefer, "outsourcing" – to date, which could be worth over £1bn.

Kingston Whig-Standard Thu Jan 28 2016

The alarming issue of workplace violence at the hands of patients at some Ontario mental health hospitals was central to talks at a twoday conference hosted by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions at the Holiday Inn Kingston Waterfront that concluded Wednesday. "The purpose of the conference is to talk about issues related to their current practice," Helen Fetterly, the union's secretary treasurer and a non-practising registered practical nurse from Cornwall, said. "One of the big issues is we're seeing more violence in the workplace."

Approximately 150 registered practical nurses from across Ontario attended the conference, and Fetterly and Linda Clayborne, an RPN at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton at the mental health site and executive member of CUPE Local 786, met with the Whig-Standard to discuss the RPN's issues. Fetterly said the union was to talk about issues and form an action plan.

Thousands of Ontarians die needlessly due to medical errors, hospital-acquired infections and cost-cutting each year. So say the authors of a new book titled Epidemic of Medical Errors and Hospital-Acquired Infections, who will begin a 15-community tour this week

Thousands of Ontarians die needlessly due to medical errors, hospital-acquired infections and cost-cutting each year. So say the authors of a new book titled Epidemic of Medical Errors and Hospital-Acquired Infections, who will begin a 15-community tour this week that includes Toronto, Montreal, Thunder Bay and Windsor.

Ottawa: Thursday, May 10 (9:30 a.m.) at 330 Kent St. (Royal Canadian Legion-Lower Hall) Brockville: Thursday, May 10 (4 p.m.) at 180 Park St (Royal Canadian Legion) Cornwall: Thursday, May 10 (1 p.m.) at 800 7th St West (Benson Centre) Toronto: June 4 at the Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St. W.

Pushed out of hospital, abandoned at home, elderly and frail neglected; hotline report finds

Following decades of cuts to hospitals, sick, frail Ontarians from Sudbury to Windsor to Cornwall, are being pushed out of hospital while acutely ill. Hardest hit are the elderly who are not getting the rehabilitative therapies and restorative and convalescent care they need, a report to be released in Sudbury on February 25, 2014, has found. 

The study Pushed Out of Hospital, Abandoned at Home: After Twenty Years of Budget Cuts, Ontario's Health System is Failing Patients, chronicles the qualitative experiences of hundreds of patients and their families from across Ontario, who called a 1-800 patient hotline. The report will be released Wednesday February 25th at 10:00 a.m. at a media conference at the Royal Canadian Legion, 2200 Long Lake Road, Sudbury.

The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder Sat Nov 23 2013

OTTAWA -- The Ontario government can try to force down the price of generic prescription drugs--even if it hurts pharmacies-- after receiving the blessing of the Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision Friday, the court ruled Ontario can ban pharmacies from selling their own private label generic drugs. Justice Rosalie Abella wrote that the regulations are meant to ensure "pharmacies make money exclusively from providing professional health-care services, instead of sharing in the revenues of drug manufacturers by setting up their own private label subsidiaries."

The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder Fri Dec 12 2014

The Canadian Union of Public Employees will be holding a media conference Friday at 10 a.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion in reaction to what they are calling the Ministry of Health's ongoing cuts to service. CUPE has set up a number Eastern Ontario residents can call to tell their story, particularly if they are one of the hundreds of people who have been denied home care assistance. "The province is pretty aggressively cutting beds in acute care facilities," said Michael Hurley, first vice-president of CUPE Ontario. "Beds are closing in hospitals in Eastern Ontario. Winchester lost 20 beds recently." Hurley said they learned the Champlain Community Care Access Centre has cut patients from receiving home care services, while many others are receiving reduced care.

"The government said they were putting the resources into communities so these people can be taken care of at home, but we've heard CCAC has dropped patients and are rationing home care as a result of the cuts." Hurley said the call-in campaign will give them the ammunition needed to approach the government to renew some of the cuts at acute care services. The number to call will be announced at the media conference on Friday. Twitter.com/LoisAnnBaker

Mobilization Training for Time to Care Campaign - March 8 to 11, 2015 - Cornwall, Ontario

Here's how you can help make a 4 hour daily care standard the law.

An amendment must be made to the Long-Term Care Homes Act (2007) for a legislated care standard of a minimum 4 hours per resident each day adjusted for acuity level and case mix;

Progressive Conservative Leader Rob Lantz announce's party's health platform

Apr 16, 2015

Progressive Conservative Leader Rob Lantz promises reforms to P.E.I.'s health-care system if his party is elected in the next provincial election, May 4. Lantz's announcement of his health-care platform at a Cornwall pharmacy Thursday included a couple of pocketbook promises. His brother and father are doctors and his sister-in-law Shelley Lantz is a nurse, so he says he's familiar with some of the ongoing needs and wants in P.E.I. health care.

Cornwall Standard Freeholder Wed Dec 16 2015

What would cause 116 staffmembers to leave an organization in under 10 years? In the case of the Glengarry Memorial Hospital, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions said it's low morale and it is affecting patient care. The OCHU is concerned the low staffmorale and high staffturnover rates are creating internal turmoil and taking a toll on patient care and wants the Minister of health to do something about it.

"The situation at the hospital should not be ignored by Ontario's health minister and we are again urging him to intervene and investigate what's going on at the hospital," said OCHU president Michael Hurley. The OCHU is the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the union at the hospital representing registered practical nurses, clerical, cleaning, dietary and other staff.