Ontario is signalling a harder line as the province tries to free up hospital beds to ease emergency room and surgical backlogs with the winter flu and COVID-19 season approaching. The payments are identical to what is paid for a long-term care bed. Calandra said there are about 1,800 patients in Ontario hospitals awaiting nursing home beds for which they have applied — a long-standing problem. “Often, the discussion about the cost of remaining in an acute care bed is enough to start the discussions,” said UHN spokeswoman Gillian Howard. But he agreed with concerns about hospitals charging uninsured rates and “coercing” patients into long-term-care homes that could be far from their families.

Source: thestar August 25, 2022 07:12 UTC