Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
Sandra Kang is fighting to salvage all the things at her 103-year-old grandfather’s nursing home that bring him comfort: the Korean corn tea served at every meal, music from his East Asian country, personal support workers who speak his mother tongue.
Jong Kil Kim moved to the Rose of Sharon Korean Long Term Care home in Toronto two years ago, when his Alzheimer’s disease and dementia made it difficult to look after himself and speak in English.
But his nursing home, the only one in Canada exclusively dedicated to serving the Korean community, is facing an uncertain future. The Ontario government is reviewing a proposal to transfer its operating licence to a for-profit, chain operator with no ties to the Korean-Canadian community.
Posted: Dec 12, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: December 12, 2020
Sandra Kang, 37, has started an online petition to try to prevent a private company from taking over the Korean long-term care home where her 103-year-old grandfather Jong Kil Kim has lived for two years. (Submitted by Sandra Kang)
Nearly 7,000 people have signed a petition to block the transfer of the GTA s only Korean long-term care facility to a company that has seen some of Ontario s deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in three of its homes. I have to do everything in my power to stop this from happening because for me it is just a non-negotiable thing, said Sandra Kang, who started the petition at the end of November.