June 2001
Media Release in Response to Letter Regarding CCAC Cubacks

 

 

Kingston Health Coalition Calls on the CCAC to make no cuts to home care, stop taking hospital referrals and join in a campaign protect home care

 

The Kingston Health Coalition has responded to an appeal by Nancy Sears, CEO of the Kingston and area Community Care Access Centre (CCAC), on how to react to the provincial governments latest cutbacks to home care.

 

The Health Coalition, in a letter dated June 8, urged the CCAC to:

 

·                      “start a public campaign to pressure the government to end the competitive bidding system, and increase home care funding to meet population need.

 

·                      “not reduce services for financial reasons to any patients on the case load, or coming onto the case load;

 

·                      “stop taking patients from the hospital unless the CCAC has the capacity to provide all the  services these patients needs.  While this may be inconvenient for some patients and not their choice, at least, in the hospital, they are in a safe environment and receiving the medical and nursing care that they need;

 

·                      “If the Minister continues to press for further cuts, demand that he make the decision on what services should be cut.  It is not responsible for us to decrease  health services that are needed by patients.  We already deliver services below what is needed.

 

Charlie Stock, Co-Chair of the Kingston Health Coalition, stated “that if the Provincial government wants to take centralized decisions that are hazardous to our health, then they should be prepared to tell us who should not get the care they need.  The CCAC’s job, and our job as members of the community, is to do all that we can to ensure that we have the health care services we need.”