TORONTO - Health Minister George Smitherman says helping Ontario's growing population of seniors to stay at home will be one of his top priorities over the next four years.
Smitherman says he will also talk about local access to health care and emergency room wait times in a speech today that will lay out the Liberal government's health-care plan.
He says the government will be spending an additional $1.1 billion over the next four years to help the elderly stay in their homes by providing better community services.
The health minister says it's crucial to help enhance services like Meals on Wheels given that the number of seniors in the province is expected to double over the next 16 years.
Opposition parties have hammered the Liberals in recent months for failing seniors in nursing homes who they say aren't getting the care they need.
Critics say the province's nursing homes are so underfunded that residents must wait hours for meals, are put to bed too early, and are forced to wallow in soiled diapers for hours on end.
