You raise a good point.
Seniors are generally treated by their family physicians until the end of their days. We need more assistance and more geriatricians than we currently have. Those geriatricians should be trained to work in communities more than in health care facilities. You do not find the elderly in acute care hospitals. Well, sometimes you do find them there, but they are getting poor care, because they should not be there.
In health care facilities in Canada, 20% of the beds are occupied by those awaiting placement. It is not in their interests at all and it is very expensive.
Recently, an old friend was admitted to a short-term centre. It is one of the best in Montreal. In terms of the care she received, it was incredibly sad. She was left alone. I am not saying that the people working there were not competent. It is just that the centre was simply not set up to provide the care required.
So we need geriatricians who prefer to practise in home-care situations. We have to create a system so that people at home can be cared for there and can remain there longer in safety and comfort.
I am very sensitive to the fact that we need accommodation and we need to increase the number of beds, but the beds are already there. Seniors are already in their beds, in their homes and in their environments. Let us keep them there as long as we can in safety. It also costs a lot less.