TORONTO - Ontario's patient ombudsman says in a new report that medical supply shortages last fall for palliative and home care patients were triggered by one vendor, but the actions and inactions of a government agency contributed.
Patients reported they had to go to hospitals because their home care supplies ran out, and doctors and nurses reported dying people were unable to get sedatives over a couple of months starting last September.
Ontario Health atHome, the agency that co-ordinates home and community care, has pointed to new supply contracts that took effect Sept. 24.
The patient ombudsman says the issues lessened by December but has given the agency four recommendations to improve, including better oversight and giving patients advance notice of significant service changes.
Patient ombudsman Craig Thompson writes in the report that Ontario Health atHome also displayed an "attitude of complacency" about the major procurement project and did not focus on the potential impacts on patients.
The organization's CEO at the time was let go, and in a letter today the interim CEO says they are fully committed to learning from the experience and improving, and are offering an apology to patients, families and caregivers.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Sept. 24, 2025.
