MPP: Province should help on the bedbug crisis

[CHIMO]

Bedbugs are so pervasive across the GTA — recently seen in a hospital — that the province must step in to help public health units deal with the crisis and hospitals should be required to report infestations, an MPP and union say.

Michael Hurley, head of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, said hospitals should report infestations just as they do the spread of infectious diseases.

“Given that so many people in hospitals are confined to their beds, you would think there would be an obligation to report bedbugs by the province,” he said. “I think if this is happening at more than one location, this is simply not tolerable, and people should know. I think forcing that reporting would make the city and province take it much more seriously.”

Mike Colle, MPP for Eglinton-Lawrence, said the problem is beyond the abilities of local municipalities. “Nobody can solve this issue on their own, whether it’s a housing company, whether it’s the hospitals, or whether it’s public health,” he said.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/822565--mpp-province-should-help-on-the-bedbug-crisis?bn=1

Once upon a time we had a public health authority. It meant that if your cup had a crack in it, then it was not healthy. It was broken.

Now we are just waiting for the black swan!