WATCH: Long Term Care & Canada’s Response to COVID-19
On June 10, 2020, Senator Ratna Omidvar asked witnesses testifying before the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology about the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this clip, Senator Omidvar asks Jodi Hall, Board Chair of the Canadian Association for Long Term Care, what she thinks of a proposal to allow internationally educated healthcare professionals to complete supervised internships in long term care homes.
In this clip, Senator Omidvar asks Jodi Hall if now is the time to undertake the retrofitting of long term care facilities using funds from the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
In this clip, Senator Omidvar asks Marissa Lennox, Chief Policy Officer at the Canadian Association for Retired Persons (CARP), what percentage of senior citizens have Registered Retirement Income Funds (RIFFs) and if she would recommend that senior citizens with RIFFs be able to withdraw funds based on their needs, instead of being mandated to do so on an annual basis.
In this clip, Senator Omidvar asks Laura Tamblyn Watts, President & CEO of CanAge, what she thinks of Imagine Canada’s call for a stabilization fund to support charitable organizations, including those that serve senior citizens, so that charities not only survive the COVID-19 crisis but can participate in the recovery.
In this clip, Senator Omidvar asks Dr. Roger Wong, Clinical Professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine in the University of British Columbia’s Department of Medicine, to comment on a CBC News piece that found that 83% of COVID-19 related deaths in long term care occurred in privately run long term care homes, even though the rate of infection remained the same in both private and not for profit facilities.