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Home-care patients say critical medical supplies have stopped arriving since Ontario government changed distribution system

Writer's picture: Kenyon WallaceKenyon Wallace

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones says the government is working with Ontario Health atHome to resolve the “completely unacceptable” situation.


Rob Livingstone’s wife Hyla relies on regular deliveries of special bandages she needs to help her walk. But recent changes by the province have made receiving those supplies more challenging. “It’s introduced this uncertainty and fear of what’s going to happen,” said Rob. Nick Lachance/Toronto Star

Around the end of September, Patti Moss and Steve Clark began to notice that things were missing in the packages of medical supplies delivered to her home.


The couple from Bradford have been managing Clark’s pain and treatment from home after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in August.


First, it was a syringe that was missing from a delivery of saline solution that Clark needs to keep him hydrated after receiving chemotherapy. Then, instead of a high-flow line needed to deliver the saline to Clark intravenously, a low-flow line was sent. Two weeks ago, the saline bags just didn’t show up.

Steve and Patti Moss from Bradford say they’ve recently been noticing things missing in the home-care package of vital medical supplies they use to manage Steve’s pain and treatment for Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Patti Moss

Clark’s home-care nurse suggested Moss go to the local hospital and ask for some. 


“Who can just walk into a hospital without a patient and say, hey, I need three one-litre bags of saline?” Moss says. “To get them, that would require me to take Steve in his condition into the emergency room, which is a very high-risk situation.”


Clark is one of many Ontario home-care patients going public with stories about medical supply shortages after the provincial government changed the way supplies are distributed in late September.



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