Saying the situation in long-term care is a “humanitarian crisis”, a group of over 200 doctors, researchers, and advocates says Ontario must take urgent action to address the rising number of deaths due to COVID-19.

The group is recommending the provincial PCs bolster staffing in long term care immediately, legislate a minimum standard of daily care for residents and provide unrestricted access to family caregivers with personal protective equipment.

They are also demanding the province begin the process of removing for-profit long-term care providers from the sector.

You can hear more about their campaign Wednesday on Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back with Libby Znaimer.

John Tory feels something needs to be done to change the current system which is clearly not properly taking care of long term care residents, who continue to be vulnerable to COVID-19.

“We’ve got to end up in one of two places to achieve a better result than we have. We either have to end up with a much more highly regulated industry and highly regulated includes how much of a return they are able to earn if they’re a private sector business, or we have to move to a non-profit model,” Tory told Fight Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back.

Tory adds there are “clearly huge flaws in the existing system in terms of the standard of care that is not being delivered.”

Click here to listen to the full conversation.