CARP Congratulates Ontario Health Minister for Home Care Breakthrough

For Immediate Release

TORONTO (January 23, 2008) – Minister of Health George Smitherman’s decision to halt a controversial Request For Proposal (RFP) that shut out longtime Hamilton providers Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) and St. Joseph’s Home Care is an important recognition of the value of continuity of care for patients across Ontario, according to CARP, Canada’s Association for the Fifty-Plus.

“Minister Smitherman listened to the voices of the Hamilton community and he acted accordingly. For that, CARP congratulates him! CARP has joined others across the province who have been expressing concern over the years about the Community Care Access Centres and the RFP process. Therefore the Minister’s commitment to ‘get in there and take a good examination’ of the RFP process in home care is welcomed news,” said Lillian Morgenthau, President and Founder of CARP. “We strongly endorse the Minister’s current position and urge him to include providers and stakeholders in the development of next steps to ensure Ontarians get the highest quality of continuity of care from the province’s home care system.”

CARP is Canada’s Association for the Fifty-Plus. A non-profit, non-partisan organization with 400,000 members across the country, its mandate is to promote and protect the rights and quality of life for older Canadians.

Contact: Michelle Taylor
416 363-8748 ext. 236
[email protected]
www.carp.ca