It will be a hefty bill for hospital patients who refuse to leave for a long-term care home.
The Ford government says if a patient is discharged by a doctor but refuses to leave they could face a charge of 400 dollars a day.
These new rules fall under Bill-7, a piece of legislation that has been touted as a way to ease the healthcare crisis in the province. Under the new rules patients who no longer need acute care in a hospital could be sent to a long-term care home up to 150 kilometres away from their home in northern Ontario and 70 kilometres away from home in southern Ontario.
In a statement, Paul Heinrich, President and CEO of the North bay Regional Health Centre, writes they’ve been vocal about their constant bed pressure for a number of years, which was increased by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These bed pressures affect every aspect of our operations and how our patients access care and move through our health centre,” he writes. “The implementation of Bill 7 will improve patient flow, increasing patient access to the specialized acute care our hospital provides. This short-term strategy will improve the utilization of existing beds in long-term care while also easing pressures on our emergency department and surgical backlogs.”
The new rules go into place later this month but patients won’t have to pay until mid-November.
The government says a patient will not be forcibly removed from a hospital and put in a home without giving consent.
**With files from Wendy Gray
