Overview

• Bill 7 allows hospitals to place discharged patients into long-term care homes without their consent or face a $400-per-day charge.
• The Advocacy Centre for the Elderly and the Ontario Health Coalition claim the law violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Opponents argue the law is ineffective, citing a 30% increase in patients waiting for long-term care more than a year after its enactment.
• The province contends the law is necessary to free up hospital beds and attributes the increase in waiting patients to population growth.
• Both sides agree that Ontario faces a critical shortage of hospital and long-term care beds, despite ongoing construction and incentives.