Andrea Shettle at ReunifyGally has put together some suggestions for helping in the effort to get Minna Mettinen-Kekalainen the home care services she needs. At her open invitation, I am repeating her post in full below:
We in the disability human rights community have an opportunity to save a life. A quick summary: a woman with disabilities in Sudsbury, Ontario, Canada (Minna Mettinen- Kekalainen) is SUPPOSED to be receiving home care services. The North East Community Care Access Center has been denying her these services. Minna says this is because she had complained about their nurses because they had failed to follow her doctor’s orders. Minna was on a prolonged hunger strike, starving herself to death in an attempt to pressure the CCAC to provide her the services she needs. She has started eating again, at least for now. But she is still being profoundly neglected. Please take a few minutes to support efforts among disability rights activists to save her life.
1. First, read more about the situation at the following two links. You will also want to read the comments that people have left, because people are using the comments area at this blog page to exchange more information and ideas on how people can help: http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=572 and http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=573
2. Send an email to the following people to urge them to intervene on Minna’s behalf so she can receive the home care services that she is asking for:
Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci Constituency Office email: mailto:arbartolucci.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Ministry of Community Safety & Correctional Services email: rick.bartolucci@ontario.ca
Minister of Health & Long-Term Care David Caplan: ccu.moh@ontario.ca
Non-Canadians can use these email addresses, too. If enough individual people write to them, they may take notice.3. Consider also communicating with the North East Community Care Access Center on Minna’s behalf. This is the center that is refusing care to Minna (unfortunately there seems to be no email contact for them): North East Community Care Access Centre (the centre that is refusing care to Minna)Head Office/Sudbury Branch1760 Regent StreetSudbury ON P3E 3Z8(705) 522-3461 or 1 (800) 461-2919 (Sudbury To access the Long-Term Care ACTION Line call: 1-866-876-7658 or TTY: 1-800-387-5559.
(More detail on their Complaints and Appeals Process at http://tinyurl.com/aeu6vt)4. Also consider communicating with the Maison Vale Inco Hospice–this is a different place (NOT related to the North East Community Care Access Center), and Minna would like to be admitted there. Maison Vale Inco Hospice (the place Minna
hopes to gain admittance to) (705) 674-92521028 South Bay Rd. Sudbury, ON P3E 6J7, Website: http://www.maisonsudburyhospice.org/Resident Care Coordinator Elaine Klym: elaine@maisonsudburyhospice.org Executive Director is Léo Therrie
5. If you will be in Ontario on January 23, consider joining a protest and march on Minna’s behalf.
6. Join the Facebook group, “Minna’s Hunger Strike–Call to Action for an ALS Patient Denied Care” to learn the latest news on what is happening with Minna’s case and what people are doing to help. If you are not already a member of Facebook, it only takes a few minutes to sign up for a free account.
7. Please circulate this text further via your network of contacts in the disability and human rights communities, Facebook page, blog site, etc.
Thank you for taking action.
