Waiting for Placement: Discharge from Hospital to Long-Term Care in Ontario

Abstract

Great pressures are placed on hospitals to promptly discharge patients. This is especially true of patients deemed “alternate level of care,” often referred to pejoratively as “bed blockers.” To alleviate these pressures, hospitals enact policies, both formal and informal, to discharge alternate level of care patients who are awaiting placement into long-term care homes. In addition to being dangerous for some of the patients discharged, these discharge policies also leave the hospital, its employees, physicians, and Community Care Access Centres open to legal liability. In 2013, the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly received more than 300 individual requests for legal service in 2013 on behalf of patients, relating to conflict with hospital policies and the placement process. This article analyzes the legal requirements relating to discharge from hospital and admission to long-term care.