Toronto officials are urging the province to come up with a coordinated plan for shelters during the coronavirus pandemic, after two recent incidents involving regional hospitals and people experiencing homelessness.
The head of Toronto’s Shelter, Support, and Housing Administration told Global News about two cases involving regional hospitals.
Mary-Ann Bedard wouldn’t name the regional hospitals, but in one case she said a facility demanded Toronto pick up a COVID-positive homeless patient whose symptoms it deemed didn’t require a hospital bed. “This particular hospital indicated that we needed to come pick him up, or they would discharge because his medical needs were not great enough for hospitalization,” said Bedard.