The head of an Ontario agency responsible for delivering and coordinating medical supplies needed for home and palliative care has been fired in the wake of critical shortages, Global News can confirm.
A senior government source said Cynthia Martineau, who headed up Ontario Health atHome, was removed from her role after the agency found itself unable to fulfil orders for patients in the fall.
“Cynthia Martineau is no longer with Ontario Health atHome,” the agency said in a statement.
“We understand how vitally important home and community care is to families across the province. That is why, together with our partners, we will continue to take action to improve the delivery of high-quality, accessible, and connected care.”
Martineau’s LinkedIn account now says she’s “exploring new opportunities.”
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the Ford government should take responsibility for the agency’s failings.
“I’m happy to see somebody taking the fall here but I actually think it’s the government themselves that should have taken responsibility,” she said on Wednesday.
Get weekly health news
Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
“We’ve been raising concerns — as have families across the province — for months now. The government refused to actually take any significant action.”
Ontario Health atHome coordinates the supplies of medical equipment for people receiving care, including end-of-life care, at home. Beginning in October last year, after a contract shake up, Ontario Health atHome started failing to fulfill orders to patients.
At the time, Health Minister Sylvia Jones called the delays “unacceptable” and the government promised to reimburse those who had been forced to go out and try to buy the medical supplies themselves.
“We have been working with Ontario Health atHome to ensure that no patients, no patients’ families, no clinicians are impacted by a logistics issue,” she said in October.
“I want to assure the people of Ontario that we have been on this issue since we first learned that there were shortages. … We know this is unacceptable and we are not going to allow this to continue.”
Ontario Liberal MPP Adil Shamji said removing the Ontario Health atHome CEO was “long past due” but failed to address a deeper problem.
“Home care should be the focus — not the footnote, but that is exactly what it has been under Doug Ford,” he said in a statement.
“The Premier needs to understand that you can’t put lipstick on a pig; hiring a new CEO to execute the same flawed plan won’t solve the crisis. We need to understand what went wrong and why, and Doug Ford needs to learn from his mistakes.”
The issue appeared to start when Ontario Health atHome signed new supply contracts in September 2024. The agency itself was created by the Ford government to better coordinate home care across the province but has experienced severe teething issues.
One of the company’s given the supply contracts, Bayshore Specialty Rx, said in the fall a series of different factors had led to shortages and it being unable to deliver equipment when it needed.
“We sincerely apologize to those impacted and we are fully committed to restoring the level of service that Ontario home health care patients deserve,” the company, which operates in the southwest region of Ontario, wrote in a statement at the time.
“Our entire team is focused on mitigating these challenges and ensuring continuity of care for every patient under our services.”
— with files from The Canadian Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
