Posted by Sudbury Northern Life
Nickel Belt MPP and NDP Critic for Health and Long-Term Care France Gélinas brought Minna Mettinen-Kekalainen's fight for homecare to the floor of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
"Our homecare system doesn't work. It has failed Mrs.
Mettinen-Kekalainen. It is broken. What concrete steps will the
minister commit to today to ensure homecare services to
Ontarians who need them the most?" Gélinas asked of Health
Minister David Caplan.
Mettinen-Kekalainen is a Sudbury woman in her 40's who is suffering from ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). She is paralyzed, incontinent and eats though a feeding tube. Since November, she has not received the homecare services she desperately needs. Even after 11 days on a hunger strike, Mettinen-Kekalainen was not able to receive homecare.
"I have been working with representatives of the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) to get homecare reinstated for this severely disabled woman," said Gélinas. 
"They are compassionate and skilled people, who work very hard within a fragmented system that puts profit ahead of people.
"There is no cohesion as a result of the government's privatizing of homecare services. It has been divided up piecemeal amongst private corporations."
During Tuesday's Question Period, Gélinas asked Caplan, "Minister, before more people suffer like Mrs. Mettinen-Kekalainen, will you do away with the competitive bidding process for our homecare system?"
