But Eng is encouraged by legislative protections being proposed by the Ontario government. The Retirement Homes Act would, if passed by the provincial legislature, create a regulatory authority to license homes and conduct inspections and investigations.
Licences could be revoked and financial penalties could be imposed if necessary. The act would also establish residents’ rights, which include the right to know the true cost of care and accommodation.
Gerry Phillips, the Ontario minister responsible for seniors, says the comprehensive legislation “will give retirement home residents more protections than they have ever had before.” Eng notes that along with providing shelter, retirement homes are advertising that they are now providing some care services.
She doesn’t see a problem because seniors know that they may have to pay for “a la carte” services. But Eng points out that a senior may end up needing too much care at a retirement home and may be asked to leave.
She cites as an example the case of a person with severe dementia who would require specialized services. “Some of the homes here (in Toronto) have gotten fussy about you bringing in your own home-care workers to give you the dialysis,” she said.
“They start saying, ‘You need too much care for our little environment, you’re starting to make other people feel bad, so we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”‘ Eng says that has happened and the residence does not assist seniors who may then want to move into a nursing home.
The proposed legislation requires the licensee of a retirement home “to take reasonable steps to find appropriate alternate accommodation for a resident” – if it is going to close. But Eng doesn’t think that goes far enough.
“They gotta help them out, but they can’t force them and they are not obliged to go and get them a spot,” she said.
But Eng adds that at least they won’t be left out on the street like people at the Griffith-McConnell seniors’ home.
Anthony Seminara, a dentist who has been making regular visits to the residence for the past two years, says fewer patients have required his services over the past six months.
“I’m only the last in a string of dentists who have worked there over the last 20 years and I know for a fact that when they first started, they were much busier, they used to go twice a day, there used to be two dentists and I’ve noticed over the last six months, less patients require my services and there are sort of less and less patients there in general.”
But he says a lot of improvements were being made to the residence so he was shocked when the closure was announced.
He said some of the seniors told him they had medical issues and needed more care. “Most of these people definitely have a lot of needs and I would think it would be probably difficult to provide the level of care they need – 100 per cent,” he said in an interview.
