Ontario's NDP leader believes a planned inquiry into the province's long-term care homes needs to have a broader scope.
Andrea Horwath had an open discussion with nurse practitioner Lynne Withers at The Coffee Lodge on Exmouth St. in Sarnia Thursday morning.
She says the inquiry, triggered by the case of serial killer nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer, focuses too much on that particular case.
"Everybody I think agrees that we need to get to the bottom of what went wrong there, how these heinous crimes were able to occur in Ontario," says Horwath. "But, it's also an opportune time to acknowledge that we have serious problems in our long-term care system and this inquiry can help us not only determine exactly what's going on there but find out what we can do to fix it and actually do something about it."
The province announced Tuesday that Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Eileen Gillese will lead an independent review into policies, procedures and oversight of long-term care homes and file a report to the Attorney General By July 31, 2019.
Withers is concerned about the two-year time frame.
"I don't like to waste money, if you're just going to spend money on an inquiry that really doesn't get off the ground and do what it is to do and really make a significant change in long-term care -- then don't do it," Withers told Horwath.
Withers says she and other nurses can articulate the problems and concerns, but nothing will come of it if there isn't political will to follow through.
