SIOUX LOOKOUT – The “crisis” situation in northern long-term care was easy to see in a recent visit to Meno Ya Win Health Centre, Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa says.
Mamakwa visited Sioux Lookout’s 55-bed general hospital on Sept. 10 to “just check on how things are going,” he said in an interview Thursday.
All of the beds were occupied, mostly by people waiting for long-term care, he said.
Half the 10 makeshift overflow beds were also occupied by “alternative level of care” patients waiting for long-term care placement, Mamakwa added.
“That was a bit concerning,” said the provincial parliament member, whose riding includes Sioux Lookout and much of Ontario’s North.
“And then also, you know, that particular day they had elders at the Thunder Bay regional hospital – 10 elders waiting to come back to Sioux Lookout to be closer to home, and nothing was open.”
Mamakwa said the provincial government urgently needs to follow through on a years-long commitment to build a new long-term care facility in Sioux Lookout, a health-care hub for dozens of First Nations.
As it stands, said the New Democrat, health care for the North seems to be “not a high priority for this government.”
Doug Ford told Sioux Lookout residents in 2018 that a Progressive Conservative government would deliver on about 80 new long-term care beds.
Ford said he as premier would be in town for the sod-turning ceremony for a new long-term care facility.
The northern hub has seen no new beds, and local officials have estimated Sioux Lookout now needs 100-plus new beds for long-term care.
Last year, a group of Sioux Lookout residents launched a letter-writing campaign to nudge the Ford government to do something.
One of those residents, Coun. Reece Van Breda, gave Mamakwa a shovel to deliver the premier as a reminder of his 2018 campaign promise to Sioux Lookout.
Mamakwa said Thursday he hasn’t had the opportunity to give Ford the shovel.
Mamakwa said he did, in the legislature, get the long-term care minister to restate the Ford government’s commitment to building a new long-term care facility in Sioux Lookout.
“But since that time there’s been a shuffle in the cabinet and … a new, long-term care minister (was appointed),” he added.
The current minister’s commitment to a new facility in Sioux Lookout is unclear, he said.
Van Breda said Thursday the only responses he received out of the letter-writing campaign were two letters, the second one reassuring him that the government is “making progress” in long-term care.
