Province eases emergency orders on hospital transfers, redeployment of healthcare workers by News Staff Last Updated Jun 3, 2021 at 11:34 am EDT The Ford government has amended several emergency orders related to the transfer of hospital patients and the redeployment of health care workers. After the third wave of COVID-19 was declared in Ontario, the province issued an emergency order authorizing the the transfer of patients to other hospitals without their consent in an effort to protect hospital resources from becoming overwhelmed by the rise in COVID patients. The province then expanded that order to allow for patients to be transferred to long-term care homes and retirement homes where necessary.