Experts Scathing Letter Decries Humanitarian Crisis In Ontario Care Homes

TORONTO More than 200 doctors and researchers are calling for immediate action to quell COVID-19 outbreaks in Ontarios nursing homes , describing current conditions as a grave humanitarian crisis.

Were just so appalled by whats going on, Dr. Amit Arya, a palliative care physician who works in long-term care in the Greater Toronto Area, told HuffPost Canada. Hes the first signatory to a letter outlining the doctors concerns.

We have scenarios where people are dying, not just from COVID-19, but are suffering and dying due to abandonment and neglect, Dr. Arya said. Theres scenarios where people are going without food and water and basic hygiene or other aspects that should be non-negotiables.

The letter says the governments actions to date are too late, or sometimes, even non-existent.

#BREAKING: 200+ doctors & researchers (@Docs4LTCJustice) sign letter calling on the Ontario government to urgently address the LTC crisis. We must end for-profit LTC, take urgent action to end the staffing crisis, & legislate family caregiver rights. We demand #LTCjustice! pic.twitter.com/SsniH8CJd5

Amit Arya (@AmitAryaMD) January 26, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Amit Arya","author_url":"https://twitter.com/AmitAryaMD","cache_age":86400,"description":"#BREAKING: 200+ doctors & researchers (@Docs4LTCJustice) sign letter calling on the Ontario government to urgently address the LTC crisis. We must end for-profit LTC, take urgent action to end the staffing crisis, & legislate family caregiver rights. We demand #LTCjustice! pic.twitter.com/SsniH8CJd5 Amit Arya (@AmitAryaMD) January 26, 2021\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Amit Arya on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/AmitAryaMD/status/1354096661631553538","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"archive","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"ca","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"601070d7c5b6a08142724e1f","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/archive/ca/entry/long-term-care-humanitarian-crisis_ca_601070d7c5b6a08142724e1f","entryTagsList":"news,coronavirus,politics,doug-ford,ontario-politics,long-term-care,merrilee-fullerton,@instantarticle,@newsletter-politics1","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":12},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"601070d7c5b6a08142724e1f","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"news","slug":"news","links":{"relativeLink":"news/news","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/news","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/news"},"section":{"title":"News","slug":"news"},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/news"},{"name":"coronavirus","slug":"coronavirus","links":{"relativeLink":"news/coronavirus","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/coronavirus","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/coronavirus"},"section":{"title":"News","slug":"news"},"topic":{"title":"Coronavirus Crisis","slug":"coronavirus","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/coronavirus"},{"name":"politics","slug":"politics","links":{"relativeLink":"news/politics","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/politics","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/politics"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/politics"},{"name":"Doug Ford","slug":"doug-ford","links":{"relativeLink":"news/doug-ford","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/doug-ford","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/doug-ford"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Doug Ford","slug":"doug-ford","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/doug-ford"},{"name":"Ontario politics","slug":"ontario-politics","links":{"relativeLink":"news/ontario-politics","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/ontario-politics","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/ontario-politics"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Ontario Politics","slug":"ontario-politics","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/ontario-politics"},{"name":"long-term care","slug":"long-term-care","links":{"relativeLink":"news/long-term-care","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/long-term-care","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/long-term-care"},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/long-term-care"},{"name":"merrilee fullerton","slug":"merrilee-fullerton","links":{"relativeLink":"news/merrilee-fullerton","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/merrilee-fullerton","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/merrilee-fullerton"},"url":"https://action.news/archive/ca/topic/merrilee-fullerton"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

#BREAKING : 200+ doctors & researchers (@Docs4LTCJustice ) sign letter calling on the Ontario government to urgently address the LTC crisis. We must end for-profit LTC, take urgent action to end the staffing crisis, & legislate family caregiver rights. We demand #LTCjustice ! pic.twitter.com/SsniH8CJd5
Amit Arya (@AmitAryaMD) January 26, 2021

Doctors are still seeing poor infection control practices, dwindling staff numbers and a lack of transparency about whats going on inside homes, the letter says. Residents are experiencing continued abandonment and inhumane conditions, it says. This is a human rights violation.

The government has allowed the situation in our [long-term care] LTC homes to become a preventable and recurring crisis in the 2nd wave, with deaths across the entire province.

Most of Ontarios 626 homes are run by for-profit companies, but all of them receive government funding and are regulated and inspected by the province.

Real human beings with real faces

Nearly 40 per cent of all homes currently have COVID-19 outbreaks. Fifty-seven per cent of Ontarios COVID-19 deaths 3,389 people were long-term care residents.

To be honest, its horrifying, said Dr. Arya. These are not numbers. These are really people. Real human beings with real faces, people who are somebodys parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. These are people who built the very society we cherish.