Medical supply delays disrupting home care across Ontario – CBC

Ontario Health atHome launched new supply contracts for deliveries on Sept. 24

Oct 22, 2024

A Newmarket woman says home care for her husband, who is in palliative care with Stage 4 cancer, has been disrupted amid delays and shortages across Ontario for home and palliative care supplies.

Patti Moss is a full-time caregiver for her husband, Steven Clark. When they began home care in August, she said everything ran smoothly.

“It was an incredible service,” she said.

But last month, Clark’s nurses began mentioning they were having issues obtaining the correct supplies. On Sept. 24, Ontario Health atHome launched new supply contracts for the delivery of medical items.

Since then, Moss says some critical supplies stopped arriving.

In one instance, after a round of chemotherapy in October, the hospital ordered hydration for Clark for three days — but by the second day, nothing had arrived. Clark’s home-care nurses borrowed hydration supplies for him from other patients, Moss said.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/supple-delays-ontario-homecare-1.7360120